Under New Management
by You got the crowbar
Summary: A suspicious character enters the fray in the HA, taking charge of assigning tasks to heroes to prevent as much damage as possible, is he really who he says he is?
1. The Telepath (1)

"Welcome, everyone, and thank you for coming today." Shicchi began, "As this meeting was not mandatory we truly appreciate your cooperation"

Looking around the meeting room, anyone could tell this was a bit of an odd situation with an equally odd turnout. The S-class meeting had most of its usual members show up, SuperAlloy Darkshine,Pri Pri Prisoner, Engine Knight, Light Speed Flash, Child Emperor, Atomic Samurai, Zombie Man, Pig god, Tank Top Master, and Watchdog Man were present, but other constant members had seemingly decided to just not show up. Metal Bat and Metal Knight were expected no-shows, and the association didn't even have a way of contacting Blast let alone getting him to show up. What genuinely confused Shicchi was the fact that Silver Fang, King, Demon Cyborg and Tatsumaki hadn't arrived yet, it was no secret that the absentees had strong ties to to the A-class hero Caped Baldy, but Shicchi doubted that they would just ignore the meeting to gather amongst themselves.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Demon Cyborg, King, and Silver Fang all walked through the door at nearly the same time, conversing amongst themselves.

"Sorry for being late, we were all the way out in Z-city." Silver Fang said casually as he took his seat.

"A-ah, I see, I assume Miss Tornado is close behind you?" Shicchi asked, he was always so nervous talking to these heroes.

"No." Demon Cyborg said in his usual serious tone. "She and sensei are on a date, they both ask for no more distractions for the rest of the day."

"It's no matter," a deep voice emanated from the dark corner of the room. "I will speak with both of them at their earliest convenience."

A man emerged from the shadows with long, straight, bright red hair and wide, dirty, thickly lensed glasses. The man was wide and tall and wore an easy going smile, he had an aura of efficiency and intelligence. He wore a dark black suit with a red dress shirt and a thin, black tie. His hair was messy but it was clear that no brush or comb could tame the wild mane, even if it tried to.

"Ah, yes, forgive me, sir. Everyone, this is the reason you were called here today, say hello to Kana Torimia, one of the highest chairmen in the hero association. He has elected to be the new assignment manager of S-class and high A-class, he is able to respond with three times as much speed and accuracy than the disaster network and is able to more efficiently disperse heroes to tasks."

"Well, I'm not sure how Tatsumaki will feel about that." Atomic Samurai scoffed as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'm not really here to change things that much, honestly, 'manager' is just a title. In reality, I'll be managing very little, I'm only here to help you all respond to disasters more quickly, so as much damage and casualties as possible can be avoided. To be terribly honest with you, I am frighteningly unprofessional, but this is what I'm good at, so I'm here to help." Kana spoke up, dragging a chair over to him before lazily sitting back.

"That's great and all, but how do you plan on alerting us so quickly, do we all get new phones or something?" Child emperor piped.

"Hm? No, phones break and typing or calling would take too long. I'll let you all in on a secret: most of the chairmen have powers that are more useful for business than fighting, mine is telecommunication and extreme spatial awareness. So, it's simple, a disaster pops up anywhere on this continent and I send a quick message to the most suitable hero for the job."

"Dang," Pri Pri prisoner mumbled. "I need a new phone to text my boyfriend."

"Regardless, I'd like to speak with all of you one on one, to get a feeling for situations you might excel in, I also need to set up a mental link with each of you, so…" Kana trailed off as he stood and walked over to a wall which suddenly slid open, revealing a dimly lit office. He gestured to the seat inside.

"Who wants to go first?"


	2. The King and Queen (2)

As Tatsumaki woke up, she remarked at how well she had slept, her insomnia had a tendency to leave her restless and grumpy, but for once she had actually received a good night's rest. She floated to the kitchen and telepathically began preparing her own breakfast, she would have some lowly C or B class do it for her but she didn't like the idea of someone besides her or Saitama meandering throughout her apartment, and even then she was on slightly uneven footing with him.

The two had been dating for a few months now, she felt certain she loved him, in a new, slightly nauseating way, different from how she'll for Fubuki, but she was unsure the feeling flowed both ways. Saitama was strong, and he cared for her, and knowing he was there for her put her mind mostly at ease, but there was a sense of shakiness in the relationship. She tried to forget about it and start planning for their next date, seeing as how last night was planned out by baldy and insanely fun (though she'd never admit that to him), she wanted to one-up him next time.

Just then, her phone started vibrating, she picked it up and entered the pass code to see a text from the HA:

"Hello there, Tatsumaki, this is your new assignment manager, Kana. After the meeting yesterday I got the chance to interview most S-class heroes, I'd like to interview you and Saitama as soon as possible. Please tell me the best time for this and we can set up a meeting."

Assignment manager?! Who the hell did the association think they were? She began frantically typing:

"Ye, right now! We are on our way!"

Tatsumaki was so angry she nearly forgot to change out of her pajamas, after doing so she rushed outside and soared over to Saitama's apartment, it was a shame his home in Z-city was destroyed, but at least he lived closer now. She burst down the door to see Genos making dinner and Saitama watching T.v.. She snatched up her boyfriend and turned to Genos who seemed ready to throw down.

"The association wants to interview us, we'll be back in an hour or two!"

with that, she soared back through the doorway and off to the association, bald boyfriend in hand.

Saitama was just sort of getting dragged along by his psychotic girlfriend, she was super cute, strong, and they had a lot of chemistry, but she was also impulsive, stuck up, and generally fucking insane. It was whatever, though, at least she was interesting and he liked hanging out with her. He was a little upset with this particular escapade, though, he was in the middle of a semi-decent soap opera, and he needed to know: Dónde está la bibliotheca? He didn't understand the language but he was sure it would be super dramatic.

Saitama did wonder what he was going to be interviewed for. He almost certainly wasn't moving up to S-class yet, work had been too slow for that. Maybe a fan club was forming that he needed to sign off on… He doubted it, besides, Tatsumaki probably wouldn't be pleased with a bunch of girls screaming his name. Maybe Tatsumaki just got something wrong and they didn't want to interview him, or she knew they didn't and she just wanted him there for support.

The flew in through the metal doors and straight into the elevator, where the waited awkwardly before Saitama opened up.

"Yo, Tats, I'm still levitating."

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

She let Saitama drop, causing the elevator to stop for a moment and shake before taking off again.

"Hey, Tats, do they really want to interview me up there or what?"

"Yeah, they asked me to bring you a long."

"Why?"

"I don't freaking know, maybe they've got something that'll make your hair grow back."

There was a moment of silence after Tatsumaki's effortless insult. The elevator was so awkwardly silent you could hear a pin drop. Finally, Saitama spoke up.

"Something weird is going on, huh?

"...I think so, yeah." Tatsumaki responded.

"It's got you really nervous, don't worry, we'll get through this together."

Tatsumaki gave Saitama a grateful smile as the elevator slowed to a stop, the doors opening loudly. Someone could be heard from the meeting room, two people conversing. Saitama and Tastsumaki approached the meeting room, Metal Bat and a young girl turning the corner as they did so. When the two groups passed each other, Tatsumaki saw something she had never seen before, Metal Bat was... Happy. It was when the couple turned into the meeting room that Tatsumaki saw him, the red haired man with the devilish but welcoming grin.

He was back.


	3. The God (3)

"So you're the one in charge of S-class, huh?" Saitama approached the man, before looking back at Tatsumaki. "You know this guy? He seems weird."

Tatsumaki nodded her head with a disapproving look plastered on her face, never looking away from the suspicious man, who was now lighting a cigarette. She moved towards him slowly, as she began to talk.

"This creep stalked every A and S class hero two and a half years ago. Whenever there was a fight that people died in, he was there, standing at the tip of the crater. Everyone tried to catch up to him, find out who he really was, but I'm the only one that ever got a decent look. He was always there, just standing in the middle of chaos, like it was just another tuesday."

Tatsumaki kept moving until she was right up in the man's face, her expression becoming twice as intense, all the while his expression steadily lost any sign of caring. The cigarette barely twitched before the man disappeared and reappeared back at his desk.

"Sorry, that was a bit too close for comfort, and I do have a name, miss Tornado, I am Kana Torimia, at your service. Regardless, we should start the interviews now, which of you would like to go first." Kana asked with a coy tone.

"We're not doing anything with you, Freak!" Tatsumaki blurted out, beginning to float off the floor and glow a slight green.

"Yo, Tats, didn't the hero association say we have too?" Saitama added, extremely bored.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean we should! Who knows what this freak is up to?!"

"Don't worry about that, I'll go first and check it out, nothing bad's gonna happen to ya."

Tatsumaki blushed at her boyfriend's attempt comfort her, but he still didn't know the whole story with this guy, hell, she could fill up a book and still be relatively in the dark. Whatever it was though, Saitama could handle it. If he could resist her psychic waves he could deal with this loser, still...

Kana had strong waves coming off of him, almost like those an ESPer gave off but, something was wrong with them. The waves were sort of…twisty? It was hard for her to explain, the psychic waves she was used to were either straight or circular, but these ones had no pattern, like the flailing arms of someone who was drowning. Some curved and shrunk inwards while others stretched out as far they could, the one thing they had in common was they were all pointed towards Saitama.

"That sounds lovely, I was hoping I'd get to speak with you first, mister Saitama. Come in, we have a Lot to discuss." Kana said, a humongous grin growing on his face as he put out his cigarette on the back of his hand. "Take a seat right here." Kana gestured to the seat in his office, once in the office the wall started to close. Saitama turned back to Tatsumaki and gave her a confident smile and a thumbs-up, right before the two were completely separated.

Saitama took a seat, expecting Kana to do the same, but the large man simply wandered over to a filing cabinet and excitedly rushed through the documents and folders inside. Finally, after about five minutes, Kana pulled out two files and rushed back to his desk to sit down.

"I do apologize for the wait, mister Saitama, I wasn't expecting you two so soon, I had actually just put these and a few others away before my interview with Metal Bat."

"It's not an issue, I don't have much better to do."

"Oh my, thank you so much for your patience, now I had wanted to save this question for later in the interview but, honestly, I'm simply too excited. Now then..." Kana placed down the folders, revealing the titles on both: "Caped baldy" and "Blast."

"Why are you in the system twice?"


	4. The Doctor (4)

"What are you talking about?" Saitama asked, his deadpan expression remaining as firm as the moment he sat down.

"Mister Saitama, I have been present for nearly every battle Blast has taken credit for, and I have now witnessed you in four battles, the remnants of your enemies and your fighting style match exactly with the S-class hero, Blast." Kana said, a smug grin on his face.

"If my theory is correct, then-"

"Hey, wait," Saitama interrupted. "You're a higher up in the Association, aren't you?"

"Well, yes. why?"

"Don't you guys know who blast is? That's what Shicchi said."

"Shicchi has been lied to, I did my own digging, and no one knows who, where, or what Blast is. Everyone has their own ideas, some say he doesn't exist, that he's a monster, or that he's just gone off somewhere and abandoned us."

"So you think that I'm blast?" Saitama said, not the least bit surprised that the association had lied to him.

"Not necessarily, it was just a theory, in a way I'm glad I was wrong." Kana stood up with Blast's file in hand and walked over to the filing cabinet, speaking as he found the files proper place. "Tell me, Saitama, why did you become a hero, why are you a hero now?"

Saitama looked at kana, slightly surprised. "Well, when I started training it was because I needed a life to live, and fighting strong enemies filled that gap for me, but now…" Saitama had to think for a moment, he still hoped for the thrill, for someone strong to come along that could give him a challenge, but that was only a bonus for him now. He thought about his life now, he had friends, a girlfriend, even, a job he enjoyed, and a place to live that wasn't in ruins. It may not have been clear to everyone else, but he was happy, and in his mind he was just an average guy.

"Now that I know I'm strong, and I live an average life, It feels easy to keep going. I want everyone to have that, I don't want it to be taken from them, so I fight to save people. I fight because it's easy for me, so that it can be easy for everyone else. I might be the strongest person out there right now, so if I don't stop the bad guys, who will?"

Kana let out a sigh as he sat down. "In a perfect world, Saitama, all heroes would be like you: strong and noble, but the same as the people."

Kana seemed to mean well, but something about him was just so inconceivably off, he had something on his mind and some sort of plan, but Saitama couldn't place it. Kana had started off the interview as excitedly as a puppy finding its favorite toy, now he seemed to be lost in thought, except he still had that smile dragging from ear to ear, it just had a different meaning now. It was as if he was scanning a chess board, looking for his next move.

"Is there a point to this?" Saitama asked, breaking Kana out of his trance.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm aware you live with the Demon Cyborg, Genos, so you've heard enough backstory to last for the rest of your life. I will say this, some of the things I've done in the past have been slightly… Dubious. When I joined this organization I intended to make up for that long history of mistakes, but some of the methods they implemented back in then weren't much better. Supposedly now we're less questionable, but certain chairmen have started to get a little hot under the collar, I'm worried they'll make a bad move, and soon. If the association pulls something that puts people in danger then it's not going to show up on the disaster channel, and even if it did, who knows what heroes will stick with them and which ones will fight for the people."

"But you would side with the people?" Saitama asked, actually showing some curiosity to Kana, for the first time during the interview.

"I would be on the right side, Saitama, whoever that is depends on the situation. Are you already soset on who you will defend?"

The two made eye contact, scanning each other, trying to find something that would hint them off to their true intentions, but Kana was too vague and mysterious and Saitama too plain and outspoken. Neither of them found anything, and Saitama broke the silence.

"I guess not, but what happens if there isn't a 'right side', what will you do then?"

Kana kept eye contact while Saitama was speaking, but when the question hit him, he broke away, looking down at his desk.

"My best."

* * *

 **A/N:** I know you guys asked for longer chapters, this one is only slightly longer, but there is much more on the way. I will be starting a new story soon, but first I'm taking a break this Saturday through Monday to write some more of this and to kick off the next story. UNM isn't going anywhere, there will be an update tomorrow and next Tuesday. On top of the new story there will be a mini series regarding some of Kana's life before the HA, hope you guys are as hyped as I am!


	5. The Liar (5)

The wall slid open, revealing a bored as ever Saitama and a surprisingly morose Kana, Tatsumaki wondered what had happened in there, and she assumed she would soon find out. She watched as kana lit another cigarette, certain that the Association had a strict "no smoking" policy, he looked disheveled and discouraged. Kana walked past Tatsumaki dejectedly, his gaze never moving from the floor directly in front of him, his eyes glassy and distant.

"Thank you two for your time," he said as he continued walking."I hope to speak to you soon, miss Tornado." Kana said dismally.

"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going!?" Tatsumaki hollered after the host.

"No more interviews today." He said as he entered the elevator. "I've got other work to attend to."

"Oh, no you don't!"

Tatsumaki held her hand outstretched towards the elevator, expecting the doors to be ripped off of the contraption and for the telepath to fly forward towards her. The elevator doors closed normally as Kana calmly pulled a key out from his suit pocket and scanned the elevator's buttons. The last thing Tatsumaki saw of Kana was him crouching down, and pushing the key towards the area below the buttons. She was baffled, she put a god level of energy into the action and accomplished nothing, that had never happened before. To say the least, Tatsumaki's day was not going as planned, but her boyfriend patted her head and picked her up. Saitama walked towards the remaining elevator with a confused and angry girlfriend in his arms.

"Come on, let's grab some Udon, I'll tell you all about it." Saitama said, accidentally breaking the floor one button as he tapped it with his knee. Nevertheless the elevator traveled to the first floor, and Saitama walked off with an increasingly flustered Tatsumaki.

* * *

They sat down in the noodle shop and ordered food, all the while Saitama explained what happened during the interview. He told her about being mistaken for Blast, and the confused but seemingly entertained Kana, speaking at length about kana's sudden change of expression following his last question.

"Huh, what a freak. Why do you think he changed so suddenly?" Tatsumaki asked.

"From the looks of it," Saitama speculated. "I reminded him of someone."

* * *

Kana had been riding the elevator down for an hour before it stopped, the lights turning from their easy light blue to flashing green and red like a Christmas tree. The doors opened and Kana walked into the bright white decontamination area. He put on his lab coat and gas mask before pressing the button next to the hall door. All openings surrounding him were shut nearly instantly with an airtight seal before gas cascaded down from the ceiling. It was over in a moment, the doors opened wide for him and he moved forward, a blank expression on his face as he moved past the decomposing corpses and nearly dry skeletons that marked the hallway.

These people whom he had known, who he had worked with and befriended, they meant nothing now. The association had hid this secret from everyone, they even tried to hide it from him, emphasis on tried. To the association, his research never existed, and no one knew any differently. The cameras on the floor were all shattered or had melted to goo, no one would know where'd he had been, even if they did he was able to take care of it: he had gotten used to getting his hands dirty.

Four hundred and forty-four operating rooms, two hundred and twenty offices, seventy-eight laboratories, full of bodies. One thousand people, five hundred professors at the top of their field, countless friends, wiped away without a trace. The families were either paid to keep quiet or taken out by mercenaries, and it was all the association's doing, it was all his fault. He knew he wasn't entirely to blame, but he was the one most at fault, and he was the only one left.

He had been in the room when it happened, though no one told him that when he woke up in the infirmary upstairs with a promotion on his hands. He hadn't thought much of it, the room had strange effects, loss of memory and blackouts were entirely possible. Then he was told he would be unable to converse with any of his former teammates. Maybe it really was suspicious, after all the information could never leave the association, but maybe that wasn't it. Maybe it was his last flailing effort to see and speak with his friends,or maybe it was an obsession, a dedication to his research that he had to finish it himself. Either way, he knew the truth now, there was no going back.

He got closer and closer to the room, the smell got even worse, but no one but him would dare to come down here and clean up. The broken bones began to line the floor, many of which were only broken because he had stepped on them on accident his first time down here. Stepping through the halls now he drew a parallel between his shocked, frighteningly curious, and enthused meandering through the halls upon his first visit after the incident to his current, emotionless, annoyed, and cold straightforward walk to the room. In both situations there was one destination of the trip: the room. Though he didn't know it at the time, the room had been calling to him, it knew him in a way, it was his destiny.

Finally, he reached it, twelve foot tall, thirty inch wide, black doors that contrasted with the white lab covered in the dark, dry blood. The noises from inside crawled in and out of his skin, burning him with the truth of history. There was only one way to atone for this. Kana walked forward and presented his id to the scanner, and the doors slid open.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, this one took a slight bit longer, but here it is. After a busy day to end a busy week, I'm more excited than ever to take this break, updates will start back up on Tuesday and trade off every two days with a new story. See ya guys then!


	6. The Sword (6)

Metal Bat wandered the hallway of his apartment, staring at the pictures on the wall and the pristine paint job recently put in place by a professional. He would have painted the walls himself, but he would have just become frustrated and put several holes in them, besides, money wasn't an object for him. Ever since he became an S-class the money had been rolling in, he could of afforded a bigger place, but that wasn't his style. Moving into a nicer place would of taken his little sister away from her friends, too, which would break her heart.

His little sister was happy here, if she was happy then he was happy. Still, the hero job had kept him really busy and kept him away from her most of the time, Metal Bat wished he could be there more often, but he had to do his job to keep people safe, to keep her safe. He thought back to the other day, to the meeting with that red haired guy.

His little sister had wanted to come with him to the meeting, she had never been to the HA, she was never allowed to: heroes and staff only. But that guy...Kane? He pulled some strings before Metal Bat even asked, set up a kids area in the S-class meeting room right outside his office just in case she wanted me to come with Metal bat, hell he even got some B-classes to baby sit while he was in the interview. Metal Bat would of been cool with the guy, if it weren't for what he said during the interview…

* * *

"Ah, welcome, Mister…?" Kana asked.

"You can call me Metal Bat, that's all you can call me."

"Very well, you can call me Kana, we met at the S-class meeting the yesterday."

"Uh, no, you introduced ya self, we never 'met.'"

* * *

"I see, well, if that's the case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Metal Bat."

Kana extended an open hand across the table, offering a friendly handshake. Metal Bat, stared down at the hand as he leaned back in his chair, then he looked back up at Kana who was wearing a casual, easy smile. They made eye contact for a few seconds before Kana slowly retracted his hand, almost disappointed by the outcome. Metal Bat decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a while now.

"Why'd you set all that stuff up for my sis, eh?" He asked.

"I saw in your files that you had a younger sister, I seem to be one of the only chairmen who understand the importance of family."

"So that's it then? You just thought it was a good idea to let a kid in here?"

"Not just a good idea, an immensely important one, we're already dragging you away on death defying missions, might as well take her with you when you can right?"

"That's...nice of ya?" Metal Bat said in a confused tone, only to receive a chuckle from Kana.

"Not used to that sort of treatment from the association? Me neither, but if there is one good thing about the HA, it's the living arrangements, I must recommend you take them up on the offer to move you two out here."

Metal Bat let out a sigh as he got a bit more comfortable. "Nah, I gotta decline, all of Sis' pals are out there."

"Well, you may not have to worry about that, I'm trying to talk the association into expanding and moving that entire city out here."

Something about the way Kana said that struck a nerve with Metal Bat. "Why?" He asked.

"Well, it's simply less durable and prone to monster attacks, it's got a lot of families out there and who knows when a dragon level threat could just come through and wipe the entire place out. Thousands would be dead, many would lose loved ones, and I know how painful that can be."

"Eh? Man, I'm sorry to hear that, who'd ya lose?"

Kana leaned back and stared at the wall, losing his expression for a mere instance, almost undetectable to those less prone to emotion. Metal Bat saw it, though, he saw the pain dance in Kana's eyes for a millisecond, he saw memories rush back before being pushed down, he saw Kana dissociate for an instance before trying to replace his facade and failing. It all happened in the matter of a second, but Metal Bat had seen it, and now there was only sadness on Kana's face as he spoke.

"Everyone," Kana said solemnly. "I have lost everyone."

* * *

 **A/n:** sorry, snow ruined my internet yesterday, I'll upload another chapter later today, and the update schedule will become once every other day. My new story launches tomorrow, it's an elder scrolls based fic filled with OC's, so there won't be an update for this story until Friday, followed by an update on Monday since I know most people want this story in particular, see you guys then!


	7. The Companion (7)

Genos washed the dishes, scrubbed the toilet, and dusted absolutely everything, all the while repeatedly checking, glancing, and outright staring at his phone. His sensei had received a cell phone from his… associate, miss Tornado. Part of Genos knew they were more than friends, but most of him denied that someone so irritable, so impulsive, so unbelievably undisciplined could be so admired by his master. Everyone who knew him knew that Genos' master was the most disciplined and admirable person on the planet, though Genos admitted, he could be a bit sluggish when it came to texting. Finally, a light began to flash around Genos' home button:

"Srry, took Tats out to get Udon, be home in thirty."

Of course, Tatsumaki had forced him out of the house to that meeting and now she had forced him out of the association to ensnare him with noodles, that damnable succubus. Tats was- er, miss Tornado was cunning, but Genos needed to become stronger, and for that he needed his master to train him, and for THAT he needed his master to spend less time with Tatsumaki. Genos would never ask his master to leave miss Tornado, of course, that would be disrespectful, at least that's what he told himself. If Genos were to be honest with himself, he would know that he was torn between the two, his feelings towards each of them were troubling, but they made him feel human. Since his… upgrade, Genos had put his life on the line for society, almost killing himself several times just for the people, but this loyalty towards mankind didn't feel like him, it felt robotic. It was almost as if he was only a robot, a toy used to both save and be lusted after by the people: a soldier and an idol.

Amongst this ocean, though, there was Saitama. Saitama never treated genos like a savior or a toy, it was always as a human. The house work had been a circumstance of living with Saitama, and more of Genos' idea than his masters. Saitama was infinitely admirable, he was strong, noble without condescension, and put others before himself. He always seemed to have an answer and easily accepted the consequences for that answer, whether he was condemned by the public or gained no recognition or thanks, Saitama didn't care as long as the job was done. He didn't seem to have any serious problems, he never grappled with morality or who he was, Saitama knew his rules and he knew himself, and he was whole.

Then came Tatsumaki who, since the day they had met, despite her turning him into modern art, he had felt drawn to. His master initially had some sort of aversion to her, she was annoying and clearly too big for her non-existent britches. She was the exact opposite of Saitama, she was condemning and condescending, rude and rash, weak in body but strong in mind. Tatsumaki didn't care who she stepped on because she thought she was always top dog, even amongst earth's most powerful heroes, and sometimes it was even questionable whether or not she really was a hero. The question that had never popped into people's minds, though, was whether or not she was human. That's all she was, a human with the powers to fulfil their own prophecy of greed, godlike and yet more mortal than anyone. Tatsumaki was real, organic, but most of all, she was human.

He was secretly torn, but he couldn't understand why. Perhaps it was because of the transformation from boy to cyborg, or because he was so young when it happened, or the many memories he had lost in the transition. Maybe he had someone in that home which he lost, maybe he once understood love. Regardless of what used to be, he couldn't grasp it now, humans were so confusing… That thought made him stop and think, was that what they were now? "Humans", a group which he excluded himself entirely from? How much longer could he hide the fact that he was no longer human from himself, how much longer could he lie to himself about anything?

The doorbell rung, and with it, a sigh escaped Geno's synthetic lungs. Finally, his master was home to put his mind at ease. Genos walked towards the door calmly, ready to welcome his master home, but before he was even within two feet, the door flew open, revealing a slightly annoyed Saitama and a furious Tatsumaki.

"Oi, Tats, people are sleeping by now, keep it down." Saitama said as he calmly walked through the wide open door way.

"Shut up! You!" Tatsumaki yelled as she pointed to Genos, floating towards him as she did so.

"You already had your interview with that freak, right?!"

Genos felt slightly betrayed, he had wanted time alone with his master to discuss this matter, but he supposed this worked just as well. As long as Genos' master was in the conversation, then Genos could discuss the matter.

" ? Yes, he and I discussed a few things, I was the very first to be interviewed."

"Huh?" Saitama broke in. "He picked you? Or did you volunteer?"

"I volunteered, but it looked as though he would of picked me or Silver Fang had I not spoken up."

"Why do you say that?" Tatsumaki interjected with another question.

"My analyses revealed great tension in after Silver Fang entered the room, not many could tell because dwelled in the shadows until after we arrived."

"He just hid in the dark?" Tatsumaki asked before looking over to Saitama. "I told you this guy was a freak!"

"Yes, well," Genos resumed. "He revealed himself shortly then after, and Silver Fang seemed to realize who he was just from his name, and though hid it well, he was very unnerved by Silver Fang's presence."

"So, what?" Tatsumaki interrupted again. "Do they know each other?"

"It would seem that way, but I cannot be certain, the two at least know of each other and are very wary of them."

"Right then," Saitama said as he got to his feet. "We've got a lead, tomarrow we head over to Bang's dojo."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry this one took so long, the break was "eventful" to say the least, mainly my internet access was taken out due to equipment breaking, but I'm back up now, and I have got a LOT of stuff for this, expect more daily updates. After the daily updates are done it will actually go into an every other day Schedule , minus Saturday and Sunday, I swear I mean it this time. In regards to the new story that I've hyped up, it might be put on hold In favor of this and a couple of fallout stories. See you guys soon.


	8. The Father (8)

Bang calmly sipped tea as Charanko scrubbed the Dojo floor, he found it odd that the mail hadn't arrived yet, he found it even stranger that his friends had made it there first. Bang reached the dojo's entrance just before Saitama reached the base of the steps, quickly accompanied by Tatsumaki who flew in and landed to his left, Genos did the same but landed to Saitama's right. With the God-rays emanating from the mid-day sun, the group looked intimidatingly heroic, at least until Saitama broke his stoic stance.

"Hey, old man, we wanna talk to you about stuff." With that, Saitama started slowly walking up the steps.

"I expected as much, come inside, I've made us some tea."

Once inside the dojo the four began to chatter, Saitama got friendlier every time he visited, and Bang enjoyed the company. This time, however, there was a heaviness in the air, and it felt as though secrecy suffocated everyone. Tatsumaki was visibly annoyed, the longer the chit chat persisted the worse she got. Eventually Tatsumaki seemed like she was about to burst, and predictably, she did.

"OH MY GOD WHO CARES?! SILVER FANG, YOU KNOW THAT FREAK, THAT WEIRDO, DON'T YOU?! WHO IS HE, WHAT'S HE DOING HERE? WHAT DOES HE WANT? AND DON'T BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, EITHER!"

Silver Fang didn't seem surprised at all, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"Fine I'll tell you everything."

"OH!... WELL OKAY THEN HURRY UP!" Tatsumaki continued to yell as she sat back down, surprised by Bangs cooperation.

"Twenty-two years ago, a man named Tamoka Torimia came to me and begged to be trained." Bang spoke as he stood up and approached the front window. "At that time the only use I had for someone as inexperienced as him was scrubbing the floors, but I already had a disciple for that, so I refused him. Then he told me his story, he told me that a man had killed his wife and that his son and daughter were next."

There was palpable shock in the group, no one had guessed that Kana had a sister, they hadn't thought of him like that. No one had expected him to have a family, let alone a sibling, he just didn't seem like the type.

"Where is she now?" Tatsumaki asked, suddenly solemn.

Silver Fang hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I'm not the right person to ask, I'll continue with the things I can say comfortably. Kana was only ten at the time, but he was a genius who showed great potential, after a year of training his father I realized that Kana had not only memorized all of the base stances of my style, but he could dodge and perform the more complicated moves as well. It wasn't just martial arts he showed promise in, however, as he advanced in school he began to show just how quickly he could understand concepts. He rose to the top of his class, he skipped grades and graduated at fifteen, he got his masters degree at twenty, then he signed on with the government. Tamoka used to brag to me about Kana's rank, he was well known for his intellect, but also his insane ability to manipulate everyone and anyone he met."

"It sounds like he was up to something from the start." Genos said. "Silver Fang, where is 's father now? Perhaps he can give us more information."

The mention of Kana's father seemed physically painful to Bang, as though someone just broke all of his ribs at the same time, he looked down from the window solemnly, his hands reaching to grasp the window sill for support.

"Tamoka… six years ago he was killed, Kana disappeared after that, I didn't see him at the funeral. Soon after his sister came to me looking for him, neither of us ever saw him again until now. They were all like family to me, and I have… Forgive me, I cannot-"

Saitama suddenly clasped his hand on Bang's shoulders, an unusually understanding smile on his face, he gestured back to where the other two sat with tea in their hands, looking up at them.

"Don't worry about it, Old man. come on, let's have some tea."

Bang smiled gratefully before sitting back down with his friends to enjoy some tea and chit chat. Tatsumaki remained quiet for the rest of the meeting, thinking about her little sister.

* * *

Peering from behind the rock, Kana could see Bang say goodbye to his friends before walking back into the dojo. He steadily removed himself from his hiding spot and stared out at the waves. Kana reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a cigarette before lighting it up. His eyes were tired and sad, he could afford to show his true colors when he was alone, as he stared out at the ocean he would do one more scan of the horizon, only to find nothing at all. The sun was almost completely gone now, only enough light was left to appreciate the cool, easy, dark blue sky and deep gray clouds. His attention floated slowly towards the moon, and a small smirk spread across his face.

"Looks like I was a little late, old man, I'll visit some other time."

And with that, Kana walked back to the Heroes association.

* * *

 **Next chapter:** The Mother


	9. The Mother (9)

Kana peered down at the fruit stands goods, the cart was run by someone who had reportedly escaped A city and had been migrated to the new city as compensation. Kana had wanted to ask him some questions, but his assistant was working today, and the man was on vacation for the rest of the week. He was fairly discouraged because of this, another lead had gone dead, the association was going to start thinking he was hiding the sources, and the moment they started asking questions…

Kana began to walk away from the stand, disappointed by the loss of another witness. He put out his cigarette and pulled out a new one, lighter in his hand ready to strike down and light up. At the exact moment that a flame burst from the lighter a hand grasped Kana's shoulder, shocking him slightly.

"Hey, Kana?"

This was the first time Saitama had seen Kana without his usual formal suit, the large man now wore a baggy T-shirt and jeans, over his shirt he wore a grey jacket with mesh insides and an unused zipper. He would look normal if it weren't for his glowing red hair and monstrous size, there was one other thing that made Kana stick out that Saitama hadn't noticed before. Kana was wearing thick, black leather gloves, not only that but it was increasingly odd that he was wearing a jacket, after all it was mid-spring. Despite being dressed in warm clothes, Kana didn't sweat on this particularly warm day, he didn't even look uncomfortable.

"Ah, hello there Saitama, how are you?"

"I'm Ok, but what are you up to out here, don't you usually stick around the association?" Saitama asked, not bothering to act interested in how Kana was feeling.

"Er, well, yes but they have me running some errands."

"What kind of errands?" Saitama asked as he paid for a bundle of bananas.

"Well, way back during the alien attack some survivors claimed that a mysterious being survived being hit directly by one of the shells fired from the alien ship. Now there are rumors circulating that it's still here, I have been sent out to see if this rumor carries any weight."

"They just send out chairmen to investigate rumors?"

"Well, they have their reasons, they believe the being is a sort of esper, like me. Plus, they like to keep me out of meetings, I'm sure many of them think that I'm the mysterious being." Kana said his last sentence with a chuckle, but Satama could tell; he wasn't joking.

"They suspect you of something?" Saitama asked as they walked away from the fruit stand.

"Oh, certainly, every chairman has his secrets, even me."

"Is your secret on basement floor 36?"

Kana stopped walking so suddenly his glasses nearly flew off his face, his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing and focusing on Saitama as his face contorted in genuine confusion.

"Basement floor- what?" Kana asked, purely mystified.

"Basement floor 36, y'know, the floor you went down to after our interview."

"I went down to 26, to the Chairman's lounge, there isn't a floor 36, the elevator stops at 30."

The two stopped and stared at each other, Saitama looked bored but inquisitive, Kana became more and more befuddled as time went on, as though he was trying to remember something. The noises of the street seemed to be the only noise as Saitama searched Kana's face, finally, he was the one to talk.

"Huh, I guess my eyes are going bad, maybe I should buy some carrots while I'm out. Well, whatever, see you later, Kana."

"Yeah, see you around."

As Kana walked back to the association his mind was plagued by thoughts. How did Saitama know about the 36th floor? Did he go down there after the interview? What would Saitama do with the new information, or did he truly believe there was no basement floor 36? Kana hardly noticed the stench or the crowds as he drew near the association.

"Kana Torimia?" A young police officer

"Yes, that's me, what is it?"

"You seem to have a message, sir."

The cop split the crowd to reveal a square of yellow tape around the entrance of the association, a body sagged against the door, a body he recognized. He knelt down and looked into the bodies open and lifeless eyes, this was his friend, a man who he would have fought through armies with, even if only to die by his side. No one would know him but Kana, his next of kin, his close family, even the rest of their friends were gone now, they were the last. Kana knew him as Tataki, a colleague, his best friend. A knife was stabbed through his chest, a note separated a hilt from the flesh:

"You know where, meet at one a.m., Kana

-Sakiba"

Kana stood up and looked down upon his friends decomposing corpse, he knew that she had sunk to a low level, but to dig up Tataki was unforgivable. He bid goodbye to his friends body and identified him to the police. It was already late, he'd have to hurry to meet her there. To the place where, 2 years ago, he had murdered Tataki in cold blood.

 **A/N** : Sorry this took a bit longer, I've fallen ill. Next chapter will be out on Friday, tomarrow a new story will be uploaded instead.

 **Next Chapter:** The Sister


	10. The Sister (10)

The skyscraper was crumbling now, without the proper support the building could fall at any moment, at least it looked that way. The building was intended to be a research lab, but it was never finished. Now, with the bent and broken tower leaning into the sky, the dark gray clouds that loomed behind it, no one but him would come to this place. Kana approached the relic with complete confidence, he looked to the top of the steel tower, to his destination. Climbing would take too long, he decided, so with a sudden red glow engulfing him, Kana began to float into the sky. He got glances at the exposed floors of the unfinished building, memories both amazing and terrible flashed through his mind as rain began to fall, the worst memory of all hit him as he reached the top floor. He gazed down at the spot where he had killed Tataki, he traced the spot with his fingers. Shame washed over him, but he remained vigilant against it. To the untrained eye he was alone, but he knew he wasn't, he could feel her presence.

"Come on out, Tanako, I know you're here." Kana hollered out into the open. "You never were good at hiding your energy."

A young girl with long, glowing red hair in a ponytail came out from behind a steel beam, she seemed nervous. She wore a tight black body suit with dark grey bands wrapped around her chest, wrists, and ankles making her as aerodynamic as possible. She shook like a maniac but her stance indicated that she had killed before and planned to do the same to Kana. Kana scoffed and looked away in disappointment before lighting up a cigarette.

"So this is what you've become, an assassin galavanting about in my sisters body? Pathetic." Kana said, his back still turned on her.

"They said someone had taken your name, they told me you were gone, even grandfather thought you were dead." The girl spoke in a shaking voice, she sounded as though she were about to cry.

"Well, they lied, as for the old man… He's not related to either of us. I believe he searched for my body for a good long while. maybe if you weren't so gullible we wouldn't be in this position."

"If I wasn't so…" The girl was shocked, but soon burst into anger. "IF YOU HADN'T DISAPPEARED NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!"

"Oh no?" Kana snapped back. "Someone would have come for me as well, or worse, they could've come for Tanako when I was to weak to save her. But I guess I got lost, I'm the only one left now."

"That's not true, Kana!" She pleaded. "You're not alone, I'm still here, I'm still your sister! Please just look at me, please!"

Kana spun around and marched towards her, his hair beginning to lift of his head as his eyes glew an evil red. He yelled: "You are not my sister! You are the shattered remnants of a dead girl that I couldn't protect!"

"Is that why you left!?" They were nose to nose now. "Because you couldn't protect me!? If that's the case then look at me now, I can protect myself! We can be brother and sister again!"

Kana calmed down, his eyes returned to normal and his hair was weighed down by the rain. "No we can't. I thought I taught you when you were younger: when you have a job to do, you do it to the best of your ability."

"Please, Kana…"

"Tanako, you're with the enemy now. So do your job."

Tanako gritted her teeth, and unsheathed a katana, if this what he wanted… Fine. She tucked in her body and rushed at him. Like tears in the rain, only the one crying would remember this, because murders had witnesses, but only one person remained after a massacre.

She appeared, still moving, less than two feet away from him, her blade thrusting forward. As the sword plunged into the center of Kana's chest, Tanako closed her eyes tight before allowing her tears to flow. She stood there for a moment, her grip on her hilt tightening, before she pulled the blade out, she whispered one last goodbye.

"I miss you, I'm sorry." She pulled the blade back, allowing his corpse to fall to the ground, limp and broken after all these years, and she walked away.

* * *

Some sins are never forgotten, some are never seen, and some leave cuts so deep they cannot heal. But all sins burn, perhaps the actor does not know it, but as they rot in life their sins begin to sting and fester, until it bursts into a godlike flame. Many destroy themselves in this process, but the ones who can endure are changed. Whether they become more evil and treacherous than before, or a force for good, that is up to them. The only constant among those who last is this, among the worlds burdens, their sins are the one thing that can no longer touch them, they are determined to thrive and to live.

Nothing will stop them.

 **End of Part One**

* * *

 **A/N:** First and foremost, no, this story is not over, but it is on hold. I just want to thank you guys for the crazy amount of support, for the views and the follows, it's really kept me going. My health is deteriorating, but I've seen a doctor and the issue will be resolved soon. This story will take a while before part two starts going up, and I hope to finish work on other stories. At this point in time I am eighty percent finished with the plot of part two. The story has a basic storyline laid out, but I have to develop the plot and then write it. I am aiming for around 1500 words per chapter in part two, for those of you that want longer chapters. Sorry for the long update, I'll go now, see you guys in part two.


	11. Prologue to Part II

Complete darkness, suffocating nothingness, in a room that did not exist, Tanako stared at nothing at all. In the emptiness there was the potential for an echo, though she could not speak she knew that the echo related to all matters which it could, it was an echo of sound, an echo of being, an echo of the soul, and an echo of time. At this moment the echo could do nothing, because there was nothing, not a thing to cry out or scream, no catalyst whatsoever. There was nothing, because for once after too long, Tanako had forgotten and thus become nothing. There was no condemnation, no loneliness, no Restlessness. Here she was: nowhere. It was sublime, to be nothing, to weigh nothing, to think nothing, and only to feel the relief of a skin being shed. It was all ruined, nearly in an instant as she remembered.

It was a voice that did it, it broke down the door and let itself in, it broke her to make her whole again. The voice spoke and she was bombarded with visions, the scene of her shoving her blade through someone's chest played over and over again, with every stab she felt weaker and weaker, the pain growing to a burning sting. Images of a sword breaking and falling to pieces, the steel dust flowing and shaping into an eye that grew larger and larger, emitting a deep red glow. Pulses of red hot pain surged through her body, emanating from her chest and her head, and through astounding pulses of death, the voice spoke. It was so familiar, but also magnificently different from when she was young. The voice was deep and booming, and it spoke thusly:

"Life is not so shallow, and we're not done yet. Even from this distance, I can feel you, I can take it from you. Rest assured, we are of the same soil, and life is not so shallow."

Tanako woke, shivering and gasping for air, nearly paralyzed by what she saw. She shot up and quickly reached to her left where she kept her blade: it was still there, it was whole. She let out a breath of relief and collapsed back into her bed on the floor, the intense shivering, her frigid skin, nothing returned to normal. She was only ever like this when one of them were… Upset. This must have meant that one of them were back, they never knew when to stop, never accepted defeat. This was a sad state that her family was in, where the dead never learned to rest and the loved ones could never finish grieving. Echoes of souls grasping to the world and refusing to let go, as if no one truly ever died.

She turned over, becoming more stressed as the thoughts invaded her mind. If it was Kana, then that was reason enough to worry, but if it were her father… She could only pray that it was Kana. At the very least, her older brother would be more mild mannered, perhaps he had even even forgive her and they could be a family again. She highly doubted Kana was still alive, even her father wouldn't have survived a blade through the heart, with several arteries being displaced with the slight twist of the blade as crimson gushed from the right atrium. The movement was quick, the damage was irreparable.

As these thoughts passed through her mind she shed a lone tear, never letting the regret overcome her entirely. She missed her family, she missed her life, but mostly she missed her brother. She pushed the thoughts from her head and thought of happier times, then she drifted off to sleep. Tomarrow was a big day, mother was coming to visit.


	12. And His Legacy (ACT 2 CHAPTER 1)

It was mid-day outside, the sun was shining through the treetops from its position in a cloudless sky. The air was silent and the leaves and grass were damp and filled whoever stood in the midst of it with a sense of content and easiness. Couples walked freely hand in hand, smiling, laughing, and being happy. On a day such as this, where the very essence of a smile was all around, no one noticed the redhead with a deep frown, they didn't want to, it would bring them down. It is unfortunate that the joyful so rarely make acquaintance with the dismal, because there is noone that the dismal need more.

So sat the redhead, in a casual red dress that fell just beneath her knees and dainty red shoes. Her lips painted red and her nails to match, with her eyes resting alone. They held no colour at all, they seemed so small and distant, and no one saw them. This is because she could not look up, it seemed, as though she had spent her entire life looking down. So she continued to stare down, and if someone were to meet her gaze they could see the fear and tears that filled those eyes as she sat alone. Not one person would try to, it would bring them down.

Quickly and suddenly she dried her eyes and looked up, a look of concentration and resignation replacing the once remorseful face. The park that had once surrounded her with people and animals now looked empty, but the presence of another could be felt not too far away. The faint rise and fall of breath mixed poorly with the aura that pushed up against her, making her want to pull back and flinch. Still she sat on her bench, and then he was next to her, the thin feminine figure seemed laid back and thoughtful. Easily and calmly he turned his head to look down on her.

"Tanaka." He greeted her.

"Sonic." She responded.

"Your mother's paying well for such a simple job."

"Well, you know. She's odd like that.

"She's odd in many ways." Sonic scoffed. "The lot of you are."

"Oh? And you're so composed. Come then, where's your usual confidence? You seem rather worried about something."

Sonic looked away from her, carefully considering what would be the best thing to say, if there was even a "best thing to say." This part about sonic was especially different, he always seemed much more ready to answer something, and rarely gave much thought to what he should say.

"My enemy is organized." He said, still not quite looking at her.

"Is that really such an unusual thing that it throws you off?" She asked with a tone that seemed to ask more than the question did itself.

"Hm, for him it is. He's become… efficient? Perhaps. He's been leaving just as soon as he's been showing up. There are few places I can challenge him alone and I never seem to be at those places at the right time."

"How ironic."

"Idiot." Sonic flicked the side of Tanaka's head as he spoke. "I shouldn't have said anything to begin with, come on, let's get this over with."

"Yes, that would be best. Do we have to deal with-"

"Of course, why else would I have cleared the place out. Come, the thrones a mile or two into the forest."

"Very well." She shuddered, already uncomfortable. She stood up, noting just how casual Sonic looked, he wore a baggy black T-shirt and tight track packs. He seemed so casual, in fact, that she couldn't quite pinpoint where he had placed his sword. He must have brought it with him, even if he was among friends, one does not simply deal with assassins of this capacity and not bring a weapon. Tanaka had personally placed two small, easily concealed blades on the outside of each of her legs, it wasn't much, but it would do if a fight were to commence.

Then they were off, in the blink of an eye, speeding into the nearby trees with Sonic leading Tanaka deeper and deeper. They stopped in front of a golden throne with velvet lining: empty. Out from behind a tree came a young man with pale skin and freckles, orange hair topped with a crown, and a long regal cape. He looked completely outlandish and ridiculous, but also happy and carefree. Slowly he focused his sight onto the two assassins, his large pupils quickly shrinking afterward and making him look surprised and deranged. His mousey face further betrayed any hint of rationality that he might of had. There was no way he was over twenty, yet his mere presence was enough to force those around him to do as he said.

"Well?" The boy said with a shrill voice. The two assassins glanced at eachother before bowing to him. He moved like someone of vast importance, but despite everything he was **not** royalty. However he **was** a very valuable asset and this treatment was a part of the price to deal with him. He approached Sonic first and outstretched his hand, which Sonic took and reluctantly kissed. He repeated the process with Tanaka, who was outright unnerved by the act. Finally, the boy retreated to his throne, where he was truly a sight to see. He could not have looked more out of place in the middle of a japanese wooded area, atop a solitary solid gold throne. He shifted in his seat until he seemed comfortable, finally resting his chin on his fist, never looking away from Tanaka.

"Hm. What an odd position we are in now. Surely you'll be punished." The boy said, decisively looking away from her and up to the sky. Speaking with him was infuriating, he was always so playful and coy.

"I completed my task." Tanaka responded.

"Poorly and sloppily. I'm sure you've already been told off? Hm, I'm sure the actual punishment is still to be executed." His grin grew wider as he spoke. "I wonder, hm. Perhaps she'll make you-"

"Prince," Sonic interjected, standing up, tired of the puppeteer Prince. "I have other things to attend to. Why are we here?"

"Peh, you're no fun Sonic. Fine, I have some information for you, the three of you, but where to start." The Prince scratched his chin in deep thought.

"The three of us?" Sonic asked.

"Me, you, and my mother, I am sure." Tanaka said, still kneeling.

"Indeed…" The Prince said before looking back to Sonic. "I suppose I'll start with you. It's the least important news considering you only tagged along as an unnecessary bodyguard."

Sonic clearly took offense to the claim that he was unimportant, scoffing and looking away. He grew more irritated by the second, this seemed to please the Prince. "Well then, what is it?" Sonic asked.

"You stay around her," The Prince pointed to Tanaka. "You'll run into your friend before the week ends. You're brother is looking for you as well, he has no defense."

Sonic seemed more content than before, but he looked back down at Tanaka confusedly. "Why? What the hell does he want with her?"

"Tch, what makes you think I cared to find out?." The prince shifted focus to Tanaka and retrieved something from his pocket. It was a small parcel, a steel box that made sounds with every little movement. He threw it to Tanaka, who calmly and easily grasped it out of the air. "Everything you're mother requested is in there, see that it gets to her." Tanaka responded with a nod and the Prince moved on.

"Right then," He said, his sly grin returning as he stared down at her. "On to the fun stuff. Sonic leave us for the moment, She'll find you afterwards." The Prince said smugly, Sonic hesitated for second and then reluctantly walked away. The Prince watched him until he was out of sight.

"...That little sneak, as long as I operate he will be the plague of me." The Prince said as he scratched his chin. "Regardless, you've made quite the name for yourself, even if no one knows who you are, it seems like heroes are lining up to find the one who killed the notorious Kana Toromia. I'm sure some of them will want to thank you, but many would rather simply kill you. Metal Bat in particular seems out for blood, which is unfortunate. Fortunately, none of them have know you who or where you are. This will be useful…"

"For what?" Tanaka looked up, her look of submission eradicated by curiosity and frustration. The Prince's smile grew even wider as he reached again into his pocket and tossed something at Tanaka.

" _I_ know what you're looking for, Tanaka. It's beneath the association, You'll find it there, but you'll need that. That is all."

Tanaka caught the small item in her hand, standing up this time. She looked into her palm as she unclenched her fist, her eyes being filled with surprise and confusion.

"How… Prince, what is down there?" The Prince shifted back in his seat in response to her question, looking purely devilish.

"Oh, Tanaka…" He said with a chuckle. " _I_ know what you're looking for."

Then he and his throne was gone as though they were never there at all. Sonic revealed himself and approached her curiously. She continued to stare at her hand."

"You heard everything." She said.

"Naturally. What are you looking for?" Sonic responded.

The bloodstained key the Prince had thrown to her began to feel heavier and heavier in her hand. Her heartbeat increased steadily, though she didn't know why, as she looked at the "B36" engraved on its head. She thought to herself, then responded to Sonic's question.

"I don't know."


	13. Command the Law (ACT 2 CHAPTER 2)

Bits of gore that once composed a terrible beast fell to the ground a few yards from the caped bald man, his expression unchanged and lacking emotion. Now that the monster had been shut up permanently there was only the sound of the leftover pieces hitting the concrete rubble. Eventually even the sound of the fallen falling ceased and Saitama was left alone in the silence. He looked around him, the ruins of Z city echoed nothing within him. Not the thought of his old apartment, or the outfitters, or the fights that he fought on his way to become strong, could awaken any emotion in him. Maybe he was selfish, most people would have some sort of sentiment towards a place like this, but Saitama felt nothing. Was he not trying hard enough? Was this somehow his fault? In his greed to become strong had he lost what it meant to be human? None of these questions were his own, of course, he spent little time questioning morality, but the whispers of the people who saw him, the _real_ him, could not be escaped. Now a few blocks away there was his old apartment building, at least What was left. Vicious battles involving monsters and other heroes had more or less eliminated any trace that had been left after his fight with Garou. The thought of it crumbled and shattered and gone… nothing.

He let out a sigh, it wasn't for lack of trying, something had simply been lost. He started walking away: bored out of his mind and a plain frown on his face. He caught the occasional glimpse of what was in front of him, staring mostly at the ground beneath him. The spikes of concrete all around him seemed less like a fortress brought about from a great battle and more like an onslaught of dullness onto the sky, shattered pillars of gray still reaching and trying, but never quite reaching the bright blue sky and it's blinding golden sun.

Two familiar faces descended from the sky in front of Saitama, one a tiny and grumpy looking woman with an easy green aura and the other a young man riding on flames from his hands. Upon seeing Genos and Tatsumaki his frown lightened into a small smile and his eyes managed to open a bit more.

"Oh, you two are done as well?" Saitama asked.

"Yes, sensei, the number of monsters in our areas seem to be decreasing." Genos said in his usual serious tone.

"Well, duh, of course they are! They have us out here at least three times a week! Why the hell are they even trying to save this place, it's a complete mess, no can live here anyway!" Tatsumaki said frustratedly.

"Huh, I thought I ran into more today than I usually do, the numbers seem to keep growing, but at least it means we finish at the same time." Saitama respond, scratching behind his ear.

"Well. that's probably why he assigned you to this part of this crap hole to begin with. Honestly, just being here is a drag, let's go already!" Tatsumaki demanded already beginning to float off.

"Sensei, our job here is done for the day, what should we do now?" Genos took the time to ask Saitama.

"Honestly, let's just follow Tats, She probably wants some sweets or to complain about something."

"I heard that, Baldy!" Tatsumaki screamed in the distance, ushering in a slightly larger smile on Saitama's face.

The two walked after the grumpy psychic, who did, in fact, start complaining about multiple things ranging from how much work she had now to how her sister never seemed to call. Genos was calm and offered solutions to most of the problems which were either shot down immediately or completely ignored by Tatsumaki in favor of talking some more. Eventually the two got into an argument which Saitama had to break up, and despite the fact that eventually they would return to the annoyed blabber, Saitama couldn't help but feel more at ease. As the trio left, Saitama couldn't help but look around him and see the shattered cement pillars as a bit more endearing, no matter how long it took, they would keep on reaching to the sky.

After the three of them had grabbed Udon they started back towards home, surprised to see what awaited them there. When they arrived to an insanely crowded part of town filled with confused citizens. A man in a suit and a thin black tie ran towards them.

"Mister Caped Baldy, You've been requested at the association at once!" He said, sweating and clearly in a panic.

"Hm, but I just got here. Tats, can you sense what's there right now?" Saitama asked tiredly.

Tatsumaki nodded her head and closed her eyes, shortly afterwards she floated softly to the ground. She opened her eyes, pointed to the man and shouted.

"HEY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, THERE'S NOTHING THERE!"

"M-m-miss Tornado of Terror, we've been ordered to evacuate on the count of a special case approaching! Please, I beg you, mister Caped Baldy, you've been asked for specifically!" He got down on his knees and begged at Saitama's feet.

"Hm, fine, I'll head up there right away." Saitama said decidedly.

"Bab- Baldy! Why?! I just told you there's no reason!" Tatsumaki cried.

"Not yet there isn't, but if there's a chance someone down there can entertain me a little I should go."

"Sensei," Genos interjected after wandering through the crowd. "I've spoken to a few park guards, they say that they spotted the Speed of Sound Sonic (lol) headed towards the association with an accomplice. We should head there now, if you're not busy."

"Sonic, huh? Let's hope the person with him is a bit more of a fight. Tats are you coming with us?"

Tatsumaki was hesitant, looking like she could blow up at any moment, but she did nod 'yes' eventually. She picked Saitama up with telekinesis and the three flew off towards the Association, arriving there very quickly. It seemed they had still arrived a tad too late, however, as two figures sped through the association doors before them. The trio followed suit only to see the doors of the elevator closing with Sonic and a red haired girl inside. Saitama was distracted by the female as Tatsumaki forcefully pulled Sonic out of the elevator with her powers. She seemed very familiar, but it was more than that. What had caused Saitama to take interest was that she was bending down with a key in hand to the same place in the elevator that Kana had after their interview. The girl didn't seem phased by the removal of Sonic, as if it was planned to happen, however she did seem panicked from the start, as though she was rushing as fast as she could especially after the three had entered the building. Finally, she looked up as the elevator doors closed shut and the mechanism could be heard descending.

Tatsumaki had already begun violently shaking Sonic and hollering questions at him. Amidst the noise Sonic struggled to get a word out, but when he could it was to pathetically challenge Saitama as he fought the nausea brought about by the counterproductive shaking.

"Sai.. Tama… I… ch-ch-ch-"

"Tats, stop it for a second." Saitama said, making Tatsumaki drop Sonic to the ground as she grumbled. "Sonic, who was that girl in the elevator?" He asked.

Sonic looked up at the bald man with a frustrated face before pushing himself up off the floor.

"A fellow assassin. Will you fight me or not?"

"You're always so persistent, later." Saitama responded. "What's her name?"

"Why does that matter?!" Tatsumaki asked, suddenly irritated again.

"Tats, don't worry about it. Sonic, what's her full name."

Sonic looked around the room, suddenly sensing a darker tension.

"Tanaka Torimia." After Sonic had spoken the last name Saitama looked straight back to the elevator. He walked over to the doors and pried them open, looking first into the deep pit that the elevator had already gone so far down. He looked back to Genos and Tatsumaki.

"I'm going after her, stay here and watch after Sonic, make sure he doesn't get away or do… whatever he does."

"I assure you, I'll be right here when you-" Before Sonic could finish, Saitama had taken another look into the pit, and taken a leap.


	14. And Everyone's Destiny (ACT 2 CHAPTER 3)

Saitama fell down and down the elevator shaft, the further he fell the more bizarre the things around him seemed. Green and red pipes began to appear as he got closer to the elevator, sneaking in and out of the wall like robotic snakes, warning signs that were positioned upside down, doors where the elevator could have stopped seemed wrongly numbered, speeding past the numbers 6, 3, 7, chiseled into plaques strangely where most people wouldn't see them. Doors spread farther and farther apart, some in places that someone in the elevator could not reach them. Finally the elevator came into view, descending rapidly past the odd scene that the person in the metal box could not see.

He hit the top with a loud _thud_ that caused the entire machine to stall before descending again even faster. Saitama ripped the small exit hatch off of the top of the elevator before falling into it. Once he was inside he turned to the doors to see the girl standing with her back to him. It felt as though all the sound from around them had ceased, the air became thinner and the atmosphere darker, the girl began to shake as her heartbeat increased. She clenched her fists and, without turning to face him, asked Saitama the first question.

"Are you here to stop me?"

"That depends." He responded. "Why are you here."

"Someone left me something here." She said, not at all at ease.

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

The elevator continued to fall as the room inside it seemed to shrink while somehow pushing the two away from each other. The dull sounds of the elevator plummeting could be heard as if they were far away.

"If you don't know what it is, how do you know it's for you?" Saitama questioned her.

"I don't."

"So what if you're stealing it from the person it was made for?"

"The person it was made for isn't around anymore."

"You don't know that."

The two talked in rapid fire sequences, as soon as one question was launched a response was loaded and ready to fire. Back and forth like criminally phenomenal debaters as the sounds of the elevator grew quieter but closer.

"I have good intel." She said.

"But they weren't able to tell you what it is. Can you trust them?"

"Trust is a strong word, he hasn't cheated me before."

"That's what you're worried about here? What about this could possibly be cheating you?"

"What if it's something that I don't want to see, what if it's his?"

"Kana's?"

"Someone else. You knew my brother, what was he like when he talked to you?"

"He always schemes." Saitama responded.

"Why are you here?" Tanaka turned the question back on him.

"I was asked to come to the association by someone who works here."

"But why are you _here_?"

"I thought you might know where Kana is, I haven't seen him in a few days."

"There is a reason for that."

Once again, the air cleared for a split second as the noises of falling seemed to be only a few yards above them now, slowing down and becoming clearer to the ears. Red and green lights began to flicker inside of the elevator.

"Why did he come down here?" Saitama asked.

"I don't know, I never asked." Tanaka responded.

"Is he down here now?"

"I doubt it."

"Do you have any idea what might be there when we reach it?"

"It can't be anything good."

"Why not?" He asked, now legitimately interested.

"He never was the type to act for another person, whatever is down there… he made it for himself."

Finally, there was some hesitation in the air, Saitama didn't seem to have a question or response prepared for this. The sound of the elevator was right above them now, crystal clear as the elevator came to a full stop.

"The Kana you knew is very different from the one I know." Saitama said.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now." Tanka said as the elevator doors opened, revealing a clear room with vents along its ceiling.

"Well," Tanaka continued. "If you're not here to stop me and I don't have the answers you want, why are you still here?"

"Hm. I guess it's just a long way up." Saitama said as he took a step forward into the room. He took a few deep breaths before looking back to Tanaka in disgust. "It smells like crap in here."

"I don't smell anything." Tanaka said following suit. "I guess we should still be on guard."

The elevator closed behind her and immediately shot upwards, the two were now stuck on basement floor 36 for a while. Tanaka gave a curious look to Saitama before taking multiple glances around the room they were in now. There was a rack for labcoats, two hangers on each side of a garage door opposite of the elevator entrance. Below one of the hangers sat a button, the only one in the room aside from the one that summoned the elevator, though it was torn and beaten, hanging by the wires now. She looked again to Saitama who simply gave her a nod before demolishing the door. On the other side there were long, clear white halls ruined with a trail of blood and scratch marks along the floor and walls.

Apart from the grisly scene, the smell of death hung in the air, and occasionally they would pass by a room or door that was completely blocked of by piles of crushed metal, as if the doors from the other rooms had been torn off to be used as a barricade. The two remained completely silent as they walked through the halls, following the trail of crimson. Eventually, they were lead to a pair of giant black doors. Barely visible, near the bottom of the doors where the trail had stopped, some words had been hastily etched into them as though done with the nails on the dying person's hand. They read:

" _I have watch you come this far, telepath, now I am the last to join our friends. I can hear them from the other side now, the key keepers. They're whisperings are for you. You know the first verse, here is the second, I am sure we will sing it together soon._

 _When the Rain comes down_

 _The Prince will always win_

 _When the sun Comes up_

 _The King grows new skin_

 _In the empty sky no god resides_

 _The Doctor acts when the Liar dies_

 _The Sword will fall to harsh green eyes_

 _The Companion breaks the Prince's guise_

 _The Family sits above new heights_

 _And all will see the empty skies_

 _The real path ends with the Telepath's prize_

 _I go now into the gate that you have made, make no mistake, the fault is yours. The beasts that roam these halls are yours, the blood you've shed is replaced with mine, and you can never leave us behind."_

Saitama took a few sniffs again before throwing his hand over his mouth as though he was going to vomit. He looked to Tanaka as he removed his hand from his mouth and spoke.

"Ugh, there's something else here. Do what you will but I'm going to go put an end to whatever is making that stench."

Then he calmly began walking away, leaving Tanaka alone in front of the doors and the message for someone who would never see it. She took a few final looks around herself, and pushed them open.

 **A/N:** A bit more short chapter today, sorry about that, and for not leaving these notes. Now that Schools over for me I've been looking for a job and that's taken up a good portion of time, but I'm still writing when I can. These chapters will be coming out on thursdays from now on no later than five where I am, so I finally have a legitimate chapter. I'm glad you guys are still showing the story a lot of love, thank you so much and I will see you next chapter!

 **Next chapter:** Kills the patient


	15. Begins to Operate (ACT 2 CHAPTER 4)

The giant doors were, as to be expected, quite heavy and Tanaka struggled to open them. This was odd considering that Tanaka had quite a bit of strength training under her belt and could handle far more than the average person, even a door of this caliber shouldn't have been too difficult for her. Yet from the moment she placed her hands on them she could feel a sort of resistance, like someone was pushing back. She decided to push back with as much of her power as she could, she took a deep breath and assumed a balanced stance. A few more deep breaths as she rotated her bent arms around her body with open palms and curled fingers until her hands were side by side. Her eyes and hair began to glow a faint red and she once again pushed on the door, the resistance on the other side hadn't vanished but it did seem diminished.

As the door crawled open light creeped in through the new crack to reveal… an empty room. A gigantic empty room, to be fair, the light only allowed a few yards to be entirely visible but the room must have gone on for miles after that, still, as far as she could see, it was just a giant box. She took a step inside, and the door slammed shut behind her. She knew that there was a handle on the backside as she had seen it when she had first opened it, but now she couldn't see it. In fact, she couldn't see anything and the revelation came to her that she hadn't seen any other doors, openings or windows for light to creep in. No matter, she thought, she could just turn around and feel for the handle. When she turned around and reached out for the door that should have been less than a foot away, however, she felt nothing. She took another step forward and reached out again: nothing.

Then in the dark, Tanaka could feel things that had blatantly not been there before: A breeze, tall grass reaching up to her ankles, something moving over her feet. She shot down to the ground with her hand but when she did the feeling of grass was gone. She began to feel top heavy and the tips of her feet dropped forward as though she was on a slope. Surprised by the sudden change in footing she toppled forward, she fell. When she finally stopped she was again, on a plain and empty flat floor, then in front of her she heard the sound of… construction. The lights of skyscrapers and shops burst on in front of her until a meteor began to fall from a sky that wasn't there. The meteor burst into pieces that fell and demolished the city but still left a few buildings standing. Most notably, a short distance away a shoddy apartment building stood, though that too deteriorated soon after. Then it was dark again, except for one small light red glow from behind her. A part of her knew who it was, so she forced herself not to look back.

He came to her, or rather, came into her line of sight: Kana. Bleeding profusely and half floating to keep himself up, he didn't seem to see her. He reached out a hand and rose a chunk of concrete from the ground, revealing a massive crater. Slowly, he moved himself into the crater, and set the concrete back into place on top of him. Then, various flashes of different heroes fighting monsters near the spot zoomed in and out of her sight. All of them were high A class or even S class but changed every single time until finally Saitama showed up by himself, then with Genos, and finally with Tatsumaki. The three stood together in the same spot, split up, and then stood together again before disappearing. This scene repeated over and over again, the heroes apparently unaware of Kana who was just a few yards away. Then it was the HA that was in front of her, with her and Sonic slipping in quickly followed by Saitama. Saitama, Sonic, Tanaka, Tatsumaki, and Genos all left the association together, and then… all hell broke loose. A giant hand erupted From beneath the association, creating a fist before bursting into flame. Explosions ripped around it, bursts of bright lights, people screaming, all Tanaka could think to do was run.

She forced herself up and turned to run away, she couldn't move, however, it had seemed that there was a wall behind her as though it had been there the entire time. She turned again, another wall, and suddenly she was surrounded and the room went dark again. Finally she could run but she couldn't tell where to, she was just running and running and going nowhere. She felt dizzy, the room of nothing was spinning, or was she spinning? She couldn't tell anymore, she couldn't see, she couldn't see!

Then the light shot into the room like a burning godly soul and in the center of it stood a figure. Around her the room was visible again, and she took a relaxed breath, still halfway in the midst of panic. The figure took a step forward, it was Saitama.

"Hey, are you OK?"

 **A/N:** Short chapter again today, but again, big stuff is in the works and I wanted it to focus on the upcoming chapters. Plus, it was kind of hard to follow the end of the room. See you next thursday!


	16. And His Truths (ACT 2 CHAPTER 5)

Tanaka could feel the layers of sweat that she was coated in, dripping down and into her eyes causing them to sting slightly as she lay alone on the floor. The room around her was once again lit to reveal empty and plain walls with a simple stone floor, though miles more of the room was now visible due to the burst of light, and now she could see the wall that ended the room. No matter how big the room was, there was no way that it was large enough for what she had seen, yet she still felt like she had only scratched the surface of what the bizarre room had to offer. She had no intentions of investigating further, still, something seemed to tug at her, something strong. Deafening silence followed as she sat stuck in a horrified trance, somewhere behind her, the sound of dripping water, or perhaps light feet, echoed out from the edge of the remaining shadows.

She looked again to the doors, one of which now laid pathetically on the ground, the massive block extended outwards towards and even past her, the other hung off it's hinges, clinging for dear life. In the center of the doorway stood Saitama, silhouetted against the blinding light of the white halls, the smell of blood lingered in from behind him. He took a step forward, allowing her to see his face, she must of looked just as distressed as she felt because his face was one of concern and confusion. He walked over to her and knelt down, extending an open hand which lingered alone in the air for a moment before it switched to snapping near Tanaka's face.

"Hey, Tanaka, you still with me or what?" Saitama said, making Tanaka realise that she hadn't been able to bring herself to speak. She had simply been too shaken for her tongue to move properly. She pushed herself up off of the ground and looked him dead in the eye.

"We need to leave. Now." Tanaka said as she moved steadily out of the room.

"Huh? But you didn't find anything?" Saitama said confusedly.

"Actually, I found too much, let's g-" As she stepped out of the room and into the maze of hallways two things suddenly occurred to her: front of both doors had previously shown signs of wear and tear while the backside seemed untouched by time or people, but now the front of both doors seemed untouched as well. 2. Someone stood at the end of a long hallway to her left. The halls were so long that she couldn't make out any deeper details of the figure, on top of that her vision seemed to be obscured. Without saying a word she shot off in the direction of the figure. A second or two later Saitama appeared next to her.

"That's not the way to the exit, what are you doing?" He said. Tanaka took her eyes off of the figure to look at Saitama. "Someone else is here, watching us."

"Hm, but I didn't see anyone." Saitama responded.

"What? He's right-" She realised that they had reached the end of the hallway, and there was no one there but them. The hall split into two more paths, both seemed to echo out footprints from just beyond their own corners. Before Tanaka could say anything it seemed as though Saitama had rushed off down one hall, at least that's what she assumed as she now heard two sets of footsteps from one and only one set from the other. She took this as an invitation to split up and shot down the hallway that Saitama hadn't taken.

As Tanaka took turn after turn in rapid succession the walls and doors began to merge, moving faster and faster to keep up with the second set of footsteps that laid ahead of her. They never seemed to speed up and yet they never seemed to shrink in distance. No matter how much of herself she exerted the most she would ever get was a glimpse of the figure calmly walking around a corner at the end of another hall. This went on for what felt like hours until, eventually, she could go on no farther.

She collapsed in the center of an intersection of two halls, three new paths surrounded her with the fourth behind her. She fell onto her hands and knees, gasping for air and completely physically and emotionally exhausted. It was then that she noticed it: silence. She jumped to her feet, her breath heavy and her eyes wide and bloodshot. Had she lost them or had they lost her? How did she get to this point in the facility and how would she get back? She had been so focused that she hadn't been keeping track of the twists and turns she had taken. Where was Saitama? Had anyone come down to find them or at least check on them? Saitama had friends, people who wanted him to be okay, people who loved him or saw him as a decent rival, the closest friend Tanaka had was Sonic. What if they only brought Saitama back up to the surface, was this their plan all along?

As soon as she had caught her breath she began to hyperventilate, as soon as she had stood up she had fallen again, this time back onto her hands as she panicked. The world around her became darker and her chest felt tight until…

"Oh, Tanaka…" A sly voice said with a chuckle, echoing down from the hall to her side. " _I_ know what you're looking for."

"Though she was less than pleased, she felt calmed by the voice, she managed to push herself back onto her feet.

"Is that…" She wondered aloud.

"Of course," Another familiar voice echoed from the end of the hall to her opposite. "Why else would I have cleared the place out?"

Her attention shot back to the hall the second voice had come from. "Sonic?" She said, this time to herself. She began to walk towards the hall that Sonic's voice had come from when she heard the final voice.

"Don't listen to the echoes, Tanako. Go home."

The voice, the name it had called her, it was impossible. Still, at the end of the hall in front of her stood the figure she had been chasing. She was taken aback by it, she was in utter disbelief. She couldn't run anymore, she walked towards him meekly. The closer she got the more frequently the voice would insist _go home,_ but he was cornered now, she could see that this hall was a dead end. She got close enough to make out a few details, he was tall and round with his back to her. He wore a black suit but leaned back in a casual manner, and smoke that smelled of tobacco rose above his glowing red hair.

Then she saw something that made her panic, something that had been obscured by his size and and the smoke. In front of him was a door, a door that he reached for and opened just as she had gotten close enough to really see him. He took one look behind him, a piercing and angry look shot through her, causing her to freeze in her tracks. He looked back to the doorway, and stepped through, leaving her alone. Tanaka immediately shook herself out of it and bolted to the door, crying and screaming.

"Kana, WAIT!"

But when she reached and pried the door open she fell to her knees in shock, confusion, fear, and depression. In Front of her stood two massive, towering, perfect, untouched black doors. Adorned with handles to pull them open.


	17. Swings Down(ACT 2 CHAPTER 6)

The Hero's Association building loomed in front of Metal Bat as he rested his palms on the base of his namesake. The street that split off to both sides of him were unusually empty, the same stood for the association which seemed to be a ghost of what it tended to be. He knew the association wasn't just an empty shell, he had cornered her. The C class rookies and association's lower rank workers had been dodging him for hours, all that did was tip him off that they were hiding something. What about this mission were they precisely opposed to? Why wasn't anyone helping him? Here there was a dangerous assassin on the loose, and yet, as far as he knew, he was the only hero assigned to the case. It wasn't just that no one else was there to help, though, he was certain he could handle it himself, the real problem was that everyone was so damn uncooperative. Everytime He brought her up people seemed confused, like they hadn't been briefed despite this being an HA job, and if it wasn't that then they were nervous, like they were hiding something. Because of this, she always seemed to be two steps ahead of him, but not this time, this time the boss had actually managed to give him the right info at the right time.

Now he was here, and there was no way the assassin would be able to escape him. Growing angry from just thinking about the case, his lack of sleep certainly not helping in anyway, he burst through the front door of the association.

The moment he strolled through the doors everyone in the lobby became anxious, everyone except for, of course, Tatsumaki. Perhaps she lacked the tact that everyone else had, noticing the bags under the eyes of the already defaultly violent Metal Bat could tip most off to be wary. It was more likely She simply thought she could take Metal Bat head on, by all accounts, most of the time she would be right. She floated towards him with a determined look on her face. Metal Bat struggled to keep himself standing upright as he began growl under his breath and pointed his bat at the floating woman. Tatsumaki responded by stopping just in front of its tip, still looking fearless.

"What do you want, Bat." Tatsumaki asked with a bored tone.

" .She." He said, tilting as he spoke, struggling to get the words out through angry and sleepy breaths.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Don't fuck with me. The assassin."

A second past where Tatsumaki and Genos' eyes met, they had their disagreements, but both of them knew that Metal Bat could be... Trouble. They weren't certain what kind of problems he would cause, but whatever the situation Saitama was handling far below them with the female assassin wouldn't be helped by Metal Bat. They had faith in Saitama, but they knew he fought best by himself.

There was also the possibility that Metal Bat proved to be Enough of a hassle that the side effect of the fight could bring the entire association down on their heads, it may have been built to last but if someone like Saitama and Metal Bat collided the outcome could be explosive. Tatsumaki knew about Metal Bat's Fighting Spirit power, but she didn't know the extent of it. She had decided finding out wasn't worth the possible property damage, especially if it ended in civilians, Geno's, or god forbid Saitama getting hurt, though the chances of that were slim to none.

There was this understanding between Tatsumaki and Genos, a comprehensive agreement of what Saitama would want them to do in this situation: to stop Metal Bat before he could cause too much trouble. Genos walked to stand by Tatsumaki's side, the motion annoyed her slightly since she was confident she could take Metal Bat alone, but her hatred for teamwork had calmed since she had started seeing Saitama. Besides, Genos knew where he stood, he would only interfere if absolutely necessary.

"Metal Bat, My analyses of your current state shows your stress levels are extremely high, possibly due to sleep levels, I recommend you-" Genos began to say before being interrupted by Tatsumaki.

"Go home, Bat." She put plainly.

"Why is nobody helping me! What happens next, huh? Can't you see she's dangerous!? She's gonna get away again!" Metal Bat yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Tatsumaki asked.

"First, she attacks the boss, next she breaks into the Association, next she's gonna come after our families, That's why she's here, she wants our information!"

Tatsumaki and Genos looked at eachother again, this time in utter confusion. Was Metal Bat absolutely deranged? What led him to this conclusion? Tensions only continued to grow in the room, even Tatsumaki became a little anxious. Metal Bat wasn't just an issue if he got past them, he was dangerous _right now._ Even with two of the most powerful heroes and one highly skilled assassin in the room, Metal Bat was one big uncertainty. Nobody knew what he was capable of. Tatsumaki began to become extremely uneasy, ever since she failed to hold Saitama in the air with her power, she had doubted the effectiveness of psychic powers on people who harbored strong enough willpower. Tatsumaki was about to speak, when it seemed as though Metal Bat had had enough.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? FUCK IT, IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA HELP, YOU MIGHT AS WELL-" He moved his bat wildly as he screamed, but the weapon was stopped before it could fully swing down onto Geno's metal head, and Metal Bat fell to the ground: unconscious. Behind Metal Bat's sleeping body stood a sweaty Speed of Sound Sonic, Breathing heavily, his eyes wide and his mouth open. He turned slowly back to see Metal bat on the ground, and he let out a relieved breath.

"What were you thinking? You were just gonna let him lose it right here and now?" Sonic said in an accusatory tone. "What are you stupid?"

"At least you handled him…" Genos looked away, blatantly embarrassed. "Good Job." He said quietly with an air of frustration.

"I'll be the first to ask," Tatsumaki said as she returned to her usual self, prodding at Metal Bat with the tip of her toe. "What the hell did you do?"

"I hit him with my deadliest toxin, but knowing that fighting spirit of his I wouldn't be surprised if he's simply under the weather for a while, who knows how long." Sonic said proudly.

"He hardly looks bothered by it." She remarked. "Maybe the stress and lack of sleep helped out… well, what are we going to do with him?"

The three just avoided eye contact, this is where things got tricky. They couldn't just move him back home, it would raise too many questions like: why were S class heroes moving another seemingly lifeless S class hero so suspiciously? Plus the risk of him waking up in a more populated area and still losing control of his anger was too high. Moving him was risky enough since none of them knew how effective the toxin was, if he woke up while they were carrying him then… the result would be less than Ideal.

"I guess… We just have to keep an eye on him, and hope that Saitama gets back soon"

Then the three just stood there, with two worried expressions and one of mild annoyance. They stood over Metal Bat like he was a lion in a zoo that could escape at any moment, and only one person who could really handle him in a real fight. They had no idea of how right they were to do so.

Meanwhile, Saitama meandered through the long white halls, his fingers clamped over his nose. It hadn't been long since he had left Tanaka, but he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. The halls alone were expansive and confusing in layout, and he hadn't stuck around to see what was behind the doors she seemed fixated on. As he went further and further through the halls he became annoyed with himself, he didn't stay to find out what was behind the doors, he didn't care to keep track of the way back to the elevator, and he hadn't found the source of the stench he had left to pursue.

His line of thought was interrupted, however, as he the outline of a figure disappeared behind a corner. Saitama was there instantly, startling a young man who had been calmly walking through the halls. The young man let out a brief sigh before turning around.

"Listen," He said, as he reached out to point behind Saitama. "I can't help you, now go awa-" The man stopped dead in his tracks as the tip of his finger connected with Saitama's chest, as though he was trying to point through him. "Wh-what? You're… real?" The young man said, suddenly less dismissive and more curious as he grasped Saitama's shoulders, arms, and got brushed away before he could grab the bald man's waist.

"Don't make it weird, dude. Yeah, I'm real. Do you run into a lot of fake people down here?" Saitama asked.

"You'd be surprised, h-here come into my room really quick, it's safe in there." The man gestured for Saitama to Follow him as he walked into a nearby room, one of the first that Saitama had seen with a door that wasn't blockaded. The door was almost suspicious in the way it sat open. Still, Saitama was oblivious and walked into the room as he followed the young man, finally properly observing him.

He was short and chubby with neatly combed hair, his height disadvantage was exaggerated as he constantly hunched over. Even to Saitama, who by all means was an average size, the man seemed positively tiny. He had frantic blue eyes that never seemed to rest, speeding over every part of the room. He looked to be in a constant state of anxiety, clutching his chest and rubbing his hands together. His breath was heavy and he looked sweaty and pale. He rushed around the room, opening little containers and pill bottles but never taking anything out. Finally, in the midst of his rush, he said something.

"s-s-so , uh, what brings you… down here?"

"Uh, I followed a girl she-"

"A girl!? There's someone else down here, is she real too?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure-"

" You both came from, uh… up top?"

"Yes, why? Did you not?"

"Oh, I've been down here for a long time, feels like I've been underground for years- though I did make a visit up there recently, not on purpose, of course. Uh, I must have forgotten my manners- I'm Tataki." Tataki offered his hand for a shake which Saitama cautiously accepted. His hand was cold and damp like a stone from a river.

"I'm Saitama." He responded as he remarked at how the feeling seemed to touch him even through his gloves.

"Well, Saitama, wh-where is this, girl you were talking about?"

"We split up, back near a huge pair of black doors."

Tataki's awkward smile slipped off his face, quickly replaced by a horrified grimace. "What? She didn't go inside di-" Something seemed to return to him out of nowhere and he let out a sigh as his smile returned. "No, no way, sorry I forgot, only an esper can open the gate."

"Well, she's related to a telepath, does that count?" Saitama said, hardly registering anything.

"Related? To a telepath?" He seemed to struggle with something until it clicked. "Who's she related to, what's their name."

"Kana Torimia, pretty decent gu- whoa, are you okay?" Saitama was taken aback as Tataki burst back into action, bolting around the room as if looking for something.

"We got-gotta go f-f-f-f-f-f-FREAKING HELL! We have to find her, now!"

"Calm down, Tataki, why?" Saitama said.

"We don't know what's behind the gate- th-those doors, Kana's the only one who could ever open them and everytime he would emerge he would come out… different."

"Is it that dangerous?"

"I don't know, but it was enough to change Kana after he went in there enough times, and he was…" Tataki swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "He was a mental fortress."

Saitama was confused but he was also able to recognise the danger of the situation, if Tataki was telling the truth than Tanaka could be in a lot of trouble. "Do you know how to get to the doors from here?" He asked.

"Of course, it's practically the only landmark around here, but we have to hurry, I just have to find- ah, here it is." From a drawer on the opposite side of the room Tataki pulled an old looking knife.

"Just for protection, there aren't any security guards or weapons down here anymore and this… well, it was sort of a gift from Kana, honestly you never know what's gonna show up down here."

"Well, why don't you leave?" Saitama stopped to ask, causing Tataki to hesitate as he stood in the doorway.

"We… Don't get to choose where home is, come on, we don't have time for talk anymore."

Then Tataki ran off down the hallway, quickly followed by Saitama. Tataki was so fast that Saitama had trouble keeping up with him. The unnerving part was how he ran, Tataki always seemed be an exact distance from Saitama, without looking back he would increase and decrease his speed at the same time Saitama did. His feet didn't hit the ground in quick succession either, he simply strode in long leaps, it was so unnatural that it honestly threw Saitama for a loop. They reached the door in no time at all, of course, when they did Tataki managed to stop immediately while Saitama had to lean into his stop and still collided harshly with the front of the doors and fell flat on his back. Saitama shot to his feet, rubbing his backside, to see Tataki's horrified face had returned.

"She… She's gone in." He said as he stared at the colossal doors.

"How do you know?" Saitama said as he too observed the doors.

"It's hard to explain, but it's been opened, and someone has gone in… she's the only one who could of-" Tataki's hand covered his mouth as Saitama began to open the doors. "H-how?"

"Compared to my training regimen? This is nothing!" Saitama said as he continued to push against the doors, though he clearly had a bit of trouble. He could feel an opposing force on the other side of the door, pushing back intensely, he could feel the frustration of the force as he continued to open it regardless. The pushes it made were that of someone who was losing, sudden bursts of strength that felt stronger but in reality were just as effective if not worse, instead of a constant fight with all of its might. Finally, Saitama managed to use enough force to fully throw the doors off their hinges. They flew into shadows far ahead of him, the burst of light revealing an unconscious Tanaka, who laid in a pool of sweat. Saitama walked forward and touched her forehead.

"Eww, she's soaked. What happened?"

"Sometimes," Tataki began to speak as though he had just heard terrible news. "Kana would tell me that, in the room, he would see things." Tataki said as though he had just remembered it. "Things that weren't real, that he knew weren't real, b-but that could or would or had happened. I never believed him, he said different things everytime he came out. He would say he saw things like monsters and demons, sometimes he said that the gate-or the doors, led to other places or worlds, but it was the visions that always disturbed him the most. The first time he said that he had seen them, he barely got out, he came down with a horrible fever, maybe…"

Saitama picked Tanaka up and turned to Tataki. "We should probably get her up top and some help, do you know where the elevator is?"

"O-oh, yea-yes, of course, follow me."

The walk back to the elevator was less frantic, but Tataki seemed to be in a completely different state of mind. He talked slowly and often let out deep breaths. He seemed to be coming to terms with something awful. He began pulling at his air and holding his head like he had a terrible headache. By the time they reached the room that lead to the elevator Tataki was in a terrible state. The look on his face made him look like he felt betrayed, and he carried himself like a mourner, as though he could break into tears at any moment.

Saitama saw that the button to call the elevator was torn out and hanging by its wires, it had somehow joined the club of of the other two buttons in the room. He slung Tanaka over his shoulder and pried the elevator doors open before turning back Tataki.

"Hop on my back, I can carry both of you easily." He said, but Tataki was hesitant, he took a moment to himself before looking to Saitama.

"I can't leave."

"What? Of course you can, I'm giving you away to-"

"No, I _can't_ leave. J-just go."

Saitama wasn't bothered, he was even slightly relieved he didn't have to carry both of them. Tataki had given him an answer to a question he didn't ask, in a way he respected that, and he climbed up the elevator shaft without a second thought, leaving Tataki behind.

 **A/N:** Sorry this one took longer, I wanted to cover more ground and handling Tataki was something that I felt needed to be done in one chapter, plus I wanted to make up for the past couple of chapters being a bit shorter. The editing on this one was the real kicker, it almost got delayed for another day but hopefully I got everything. I'll try and keep writing more A/N's for the following chapters, which by the way:

 **Next chapter:** And His Trust


	18. And his Trust (ACT 2 CHAPTER 7)

The bizarre nature of the elevator shaft seemed absent on the way back up, perhaps it was the speed of which Saitama had fallen that had made it seem so odd in the first place, and now that he was climbing back up things seemed perfectly normal. Aside from the smell of copper and electricity the world had seemed to change, this was a return to normalcy, however abnormal the world above was. Saitama made great strides toward the surface, his progress not at all hindered by the still unconscious Tanaka, who had begun to sweat and babble things whilst hung over his shoulder. The incorrectly numbered plaques remained on the inside of the shaft and Saitama once again wondered what purpose they could possibly serve.

It wasn't long after Saitama had been climbing that he came to a realization: if all of the elevator doors were incorrectly numbered, how would he know when he came across the door to the lobby. As usual, he became angry, he had places to be and he didn't think he had time (despite the fact that he did actually have plenty of time and nowhere to be) to check every door. Instead he frantically began climbing faster, instead of looking for the next object to grab onto, he simply plunged his hands into the wall and leaped forward again and again. Eventually he stopped, distracted by a screeching sound. Hesitantly, Saitama looked up, to see a rapidly approaching elevator. His eyes widened suddenly as he threw himself down.

As he fell, a split second passed where he thought he recognized a familiar face prying open elevator doors. In a moment of nothing but hope, Saitama was forced to stop his rapid descent and thow himself back up and through the now wide open doors, barely missing the falling elevator and tumbling forward onto the lobby floor. Saitama sprung to his feet with a casual expression, looked back to the elevator door, and became spectacularly confused. The elevator doorway was empty.

"Sensei, I apologize for being in your way."

Saitama looked back to see Genos embedded in the far wall of the association's lobby, he must of hit him when he launched through the elevator. Tatsumaki dislodged the cyborg from the wall before calmly moving over to Tanaka, who had been thrown even further than Saitama, though she showed no sign of significant injury. She remained unconscious but was now covered in sweat and shaking violently. Tatsumaki turned her attention to Saitama.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Don't know, she got into a room down there that was apparently really dangerous. When I opened the doors I found her like this." Saitama responded.

Saitama took a moment to look around the room. Genos was performing maintenance on his left arm which looked like it had taken some damage when he and Saitama connected. Sometimes Saitama thought that built his arms so frail just so Genos would have to visit more often. Tatsumaki seemed mildly annoyed as per usual, though he knew she was happy he was back. Near the entrance Sonic sat with an absolutely terrified and humiliated expression, beneath him laid Metal Bat who seemed to have fallen asleep and was now having a terrible nightmare.

"Genos… what the heck happened?" Saitama asked in a state of confusion.

"The S class hero Metal Bat arrived approximately 10 minutes after you chased after Sonic's female accomplice. He seemed deranged, believing that the female accomplice was plotting the assassination of several heroes family members, including and especially his." Genos responded in calculated tone. "He seemed destructive and disruptive, so we-"

"I knocked him out with deadly toxins." Sonic interjected. "But really, he doesn't seem bothered by them at all, I must not have made them very potent…"

"Huh, you know, for an assassin, you don't seem to kill many of your targets." Saitama remarked.

"...I'm going to kill you." Sonic said angrily.

"Sure you are, anyway, Genos how's your arm?"

"I have already repaired it, master." Genos said in a relieved tone.

"Good, I want you to carry this girl back to my place. I wanna ask her some questions when she wakes up."

"Wait, what!?" Tatsumaki but in. "Do you even know who she is? She could be a high class thief, or a murderer or, or-"

"An assassin, Her name is Tanaka Torimia and she's-" Saitama was in the process of explaining when Metal Bat awoke and disrupted the entire room.

"TOOOORIMIAAAAAAAAAAA!" He sprung up, his pupils seemed tiny and his stance resembled that of a loosely strung puppet.

"FIRST, TATAKI-" Metal bat continued to scream at the top of his lungs.

"How do you know-" Saitama began to ask, the situation was just too weird for him to comprehend.

"NEXT, SHE GOES AFTER TORIMIA, AND NOW THAT HE'S HID HIMSELF AWAY, SHE'S GONNA COME AFTER ZENKO, WELL I WON'T LET HER, I WON'T LET HER, I WON'T LE-" The final cut off occurred as Saitama sent a punch directly into Metal Bat's stomach, sending him flying across the room and landing flat on his back.

"So loud, honestly, just stay sleeping if you're going to shout so much. Tats, can you go home ahead of Genos, I want to get an aerial assurance no one's going to get in the way. We should get answers soon."

Tatsumaki seemed especially upset with the trivial task. "And just what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"I sort of Promised Sonic a fight, and since no one's here I guess this is a decent location for it, and after that five minutes is over I guess I can look after that weirdo." Saitama pointed behind him to the still out of comission Metal Bat.

"Pfft, fine, Genos, let's head out." Tatsumaki said before flying off.

Genos walked forward and scooped Tanaka off the ground, She was beginning to shift in her sleep now. Genos seemed uncomfortable with the notion, and he turned again to Saitama.

"Master, are you sure about this?"

"Not really, but my gut tells me that this is what we should be doing."

"Very well, I will see you at your home."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" A metal bat struck the back of Saitama's head, causing the weapon to dent terribly but not bend.

Saitama turned slowly to see Metal Bat, still looking utterly exhausted, but more prepared to fight than before. Saitama cracked a stupid grin.

"Oh, I guess I'll have to put you on hold Sonic. Let's see how far we can push this little Talent of yours, Metal Bat."

Saitama launched another fist into Metal Bat, causing blood to erupt from the stricken area along with his mouth, but he did not fall down.

"Genos, go now, this could get really messy." The voice didn't come from Saitama this time, however, it was Sonic who had spoken. Sonic patted Genos' shoulder as he walked casually over to Saitama's side.

"I'm going to show this bastard what happens when you embarrass me infront of my…" He seemed to struggle for a moment to find the right word to use. "Rivals." He finally settled on the word, though he seemed less than content with it. Saitama glanced over to Sonic dismissively, everyone in the room knew that he was not needed in this fight, but Saitama didn't say anything. If sonic got knocked out during the fight that would make things much simpler for Saitama.

Metal Bat rushed forward again, he seemed to be fully blinded by his rage at this point. Genos turned around before giving one last glance back at his master and taking off towards Saitama's apartment. It was a bit of a trek to get between the HA and his master's apartment building, but Genos had no intention of taking much time getting there. He ran through the streets at high speeds, he didn't dare fly with his unconscious passenger, at the speed he flew she could easily fall or suffer whiplash when she woke up. The further he got from the association the more populated the streets became. He had made this trip many times before, so for all intents and purposes he was on autopilot. He must have taken a wrong turn however, as he eventually ended up again on an empty street, except this wasn't like the empty street near the association. Here he felt this overwhelming sense of dread and loneliness. He turned around the corner he had come from, expecting to see the street densely inhabited as he had remembered it. The street was, once again, empty. He began to backpedal, suddenly he didn't feel like he was in control of anything. Genos was alone and afraid.

A hand clasped Genos' shoulder and suddenly he felt safe and calm again. Something bothered him though, the hand hadn't only lifted an emotional weight from his shoulder, it had lifted a **literal** weight as well. Genos spun around to see a young man in a long trenchcoat and hat that overshadowed his eyes. Underneath the hat erupted orange hair that complemented his freckles, pale skin, and sly grin as he knelt down to the woman that Genos had previously been carrying. She was still squirming in her sleep, the young man reached out to touch her forehead.

"S-stop at once!" Genos yelled. "If you continu-"

The man put one finger on his lips as if to tell Genos to "shh." Genos placed his hand over his mouth, though he didn't know why. Something felt very, very wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He didn't feel like himself. The man looked back to the woman and began to whisper to her.

"Too much, huh? Well, I had my suspicions. I thought Sonic would be of at least some use, but I'm always ready for him to disappoint me."

The girl began to shake even more violently, her face scrunched up as she writhed and gasped for air. The young man seemed to be reminded of something by her worried motions, and he went back to whispering to her.

"Was it really that bad? Now, now, calm down Tanaka, that's enough of that."

He touched her forehead and traced the outline of her face. Her panic was replaced by relaxed breathing and her face seemed totally at peace. The young man stood up and looked to Genos, his eyes still covered by the shadow of his hat, but his suspiciously bright and wide smile was all too clear. Still, inexplicably, Genos felt some sort of trust towards him.

"Who are you?" Genos asked.

"A lot of people call me a lot of things. I am the Prince." He responded with a little bow.

"The… of what?"

The Prince seemed surprised, like no one had ever asked him that question before. His smile was quickly regained however, even accompanied by a small chuckle that erupted into a hearty laugh. Eventually he calmed down down, gasping for air and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Never you mind that, Genos. I have many subjects, isn't that what's important?"

"I…" Genos had a great many things to say, but he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Words, ah, they get in the way. Just let me talk for now. I want you to take little Tanaka here, and run on down to City Z for me, alright?"

With that, the Prince began to walk away, as if business had subsided in a totally normal fashion. Genos on the other hand, was shaken out of his stupor by a thought.

"Master Saitama instructed me to take this woman to his place of residence. That is what I intend to do."

The Prince turned around, completely bewildered by Genos' resistance. His eyes, for the first time, became clear to see as his pupils shrunk intensely, and suddenly Genos felt great fear. The Prince must have seen Genos' reaction, because he grew a nervous smile before returning to a normal calm and sly stature.

"Oh, believe me, he'll be very grateful you went to City Z instead. You even have air support to tell him where you're going, remember?" The prince pointed up to Tatsumaki, who must've been lingering there the entire time. Though he couldn't see her face, Genos knew that she must have been agitated by the stop, and looking down at him condescendingly.

"I am not sure I would call it air 'support'." Genos said as he stared up at Tatsumaki. When he looked back down he found himself alone again. He gave the situation a moment of thought, everything in him told him to follow Saitama's orders. Yet, he found himself picking Tanaka up and heading for City Z.

 **A/N:** SO, why is this a week late? Well, for a lot of reasons. For one, I had another health emergency and that took up a great bit of time, but it was taken care of quickly enough. A lot of other unforeseen events also occurred, which is a result of me being an adult now. Thirdly, I'm still job hunting and that has taken up most of my time. Finally, I wanted to make sure that things were properly set up for the next three chapters since they are the final stretch of this act and,well, shit goes down.

On the bright side, the next chapter is pretty much done and will be released on time next Thursday. Also, My family's cat gave birth a couple months ago, and now that their old enough to be separated, one has taken a liking to me and he has since moved in. His name is Thorin and he likes to sit in my lap while I write and play TF2. I'll see you guys next Thursday, on time, I promise!

 **Next chapter:** Passes the Crown


	19. Passes the Crown (ACT 2 CHAPTER 8)

Bang felt a familiar twinge in the back of his mind, a calling to feel emotion, though he wasn't sure which one. He remained sitting calmly alone in the middle of his dojo, it had been a long time since he had felt the tug, but he still remembered it well, and this time he would not give in. He remained tranquil, disciplined, bold even in the face of what he knew to be great adversity. No one would win if he were to lash out and give into the urge to emote, if it was who he thought it was, he would gain nothing from killing him. He didn't know how he knew, but somehow he was certain of who it suspicions were confirmed, at least on some level, as a sly, frill voice echoed in through his door like smoke. It was him, as he had known it would be, it was the Prince.

"Old man~" The voice said smugly.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here whilst still so untrained, boy." Bang said plainly without moving.

"Oh? I think you'll find that I'm much stronger than my predecessor."

It was true, the plucking in his brain had come on much stronger than he had remembered it being able to. He stayed vigilant against the enemy in the room.

"Maybe, but I, too, am also much stronger than your predecessor. Even more, I am much stronger than you." Bang said firmly.

"I thought as much, I didn't come to control you anyway."

"Liar! That's all you and that ambitious monster of a master of yours ever intended to do. You'd never do anything that didn't benefit you!" Bang said firmly.

"Ah, but I am getting something out of this little visit: a confidence boost!" The Prince declared confidently.

"A… what?" Bang asked, suddenly worried.

"Nothing gets me more animated than seeing my enemies in a state of absolute despair!"

"What have you done?"

A moment of silence occurred as Bang opened his eyes to see that the Prince was far closer than he had thought. That same, deranged look in his eyes he got when he was stimulated. His tiny pupils and wide, white smile with accentuated canines. Bang remained still and seated, his expression unchanging.

"What. Have. You. Done."

"I've been real busy."

"Prince."

"So busy, but it will all come together soon, very soon."

"Answer me."

"An eye for an eye and I get mine, Silver Fang. You take my family, and I take yours."

Bang jumped to his feet, landing in striking formation and causing the Prince to move back. As Bang had suspected, the Prince still had little to no combat training. Unfortunately, Bang had been provoked enough to react and the Prince's expression exaggerated how pleased he was with that fact.

"You can't do anything to my family, they are too strong for you." Bang said with a shaking voice.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were lying simply from that tone of yours, but I do know better. Bomb, not yet." The Prince speculated. "The other one, definitely not! But those little redheads of yours, and your new hero friends? Only one of them will be standing soon."

"You can't seriously intend to control him, he's so-"

"Strong?" The Prince moved forward once again, this time with a finger raised towards Bang. "Certainly, the strongest, but do you know what else? Even more so than that? He's human, Silver Fang. He's the most human, and that has a tendency to work well for me."

"You have no idea what you're getting your hands on. You can't possibly control him."

"Not now, not for long, but everyone is playing right into my hands. I hold every piece but the key, but you wouldn't know anything about that. Do you know anything about Kana's little experiments?"

Bang remained silent.

"I thought so. This scuffle was never between you and him or me and you, it was always him and I. He's always been so busy, though, I'm not sure he's noticed." The Prince's smile changed to a more admiring one, his eyes looked to the ceiling as he let out a small sigh. "I've always respected that, always. So busy, busy, busy, always planning, always thinking. What a beautiful mind he had, but he ruined it when he played too much with one of his toys. Instead of breaking it, it broke him. Not for long, of course, this is Kana we're talking about."

"What… what are you talking about?" Bang said, beginning to sweat.

"The Gate! Silver Fang, the Gate!" The Prince rushed forward, once again face to face with Bang. "He couldn't handle it, Silver Fang, I've read the reports that association tried so hard to bury! He worked so hard for the powers but one day, he spent a little too long in the room and *boom*, hundred, thousands of people are gone! The association spends a couple hundred million on hush money and hitmen and no one is the wiser except for- and this is the kicker- Him and I!" His grin had returned to its malignant toxic state. "The gate manipulated him, it made him feel a way that changed him, lose himself!" The Prince threw an arm over Bang's shoulder, never breaking eye contact. "Remind you of anyone? Unfortunately, and I mean this truly, really, it's a shame that Kana has to die in order for me to get my hands on it, but trust me, when I do! Oh, it will be glorious! The Gate will give me what I need, it will be the start of the reconstruction of this world! It'll all start when I kill Kana."

"There's no way, Kana must already know you're on your way."

"He would! He's so clever that way, but he's not clever in any way right now, he hasn't told you, has he? He hasn't told anyone! Of course not, the longer he can keep the appearance that he's fine the longer he has to recover. Fortunately, I've arranged for Tanaka to kill him."

"She wouldn't-"

"She DID! Or she tried, at least, she didn't know that he was preserved by the Gate, and she could only suffer one strike into him. Any other assassin would have made sure that he was dead but she left, thinking he was dead. Still, a sword through the heart is fairly deadly. Trivial for a keeper of the Gate but Kana hasn't used his key in a while, at least, that's the way it seems to me."

Bang began to walk backwards, horrified by what the Prince was saying. He couldn't believe that Tanaka, the little sister that had spent years looking for Kana, had actually tried to kill him just as soon as she had found him. The Prince continued.

"He's just sitting there, in city Z, feeding off of the power of the monsters his clean up crew defeats. His mental state must be deteriorating, He's isolated himself and his only company is the voices from beyond the Gate. Voices? Voice maybe? I suppose I'll find out soon. I don't want to see him like that, but unfortunately, I have to be there when he dies. On the Bright side, I'll always be able to see him any time I want, I'll have the gate for that!"

"What are you talking about?!" Bang said, frightened but utterly confused at this point, the Prince was just spewing nonsense. This Gate seemed either too good to be true or so intensely dangerous that even those who controlled it were cursed. There couldn't be such a thing, could there? The prince let out a sigh.

"I suppose the concept is too much for some people, put simply,this is the end of the world around you, the removal of the keystone. Tonight, holes will begin to appear in the floor around you and soon after everything will come cascading down." The prince gave another look at Bang's horrified face as a grin spread across his own. "This isn't the first time I've seen you wear that face, and it won't be the last." He marched confidently past Bang, and as soon as he was out of Bang's sight, he was gone.

Bang fell to his knees, the Prince may have spoken nonsense, but his threats were never empty. Completely mad or not, the Prince had a plan to destroy everything Bang had become attached to. In his comfortable world Bang was not a god or a king, but he felt like a father. Now he couldn't help but feel that his children were going to be torn apart and there was nothing he could do about it. He sat alone in his dojo, feeling very unlike himself. He felt the slimy sickness that had taken over his mind creep away from him, like smoke.

 **A/N:** Sorry this is a few hours late, I'm writing this Author's note from My IPad since I don't have a computer anymore. I don't have a computer because, and this still feels unreal to even write, last Saturday while me and my family were on our way home from dinner, a faulty plug caused a fire that eventually caught a propane tank and my house burnt down. Luckily no human member of our family was in the house at the time but three beloved animals were lost, Banshee, a nearly nine year old Pomeranian, Shiloh, a two year old cat, and Thorin, my five month old Kitten didn't make it out of the fire. Al, my five year old bearded dragon, the other four kittens, their mother, another outside cat named Zoey, and our three outside dogs were fine, but this is still a terrible tragedy in my life that I am doing my best to move on from.

Banshee was old and had been exposed to harmful drugs at a young age so we knew she wouldn't be with us much longer, but losing Thorin and Shiloh hit us hard. The fire took nearly seven hours to put out, and very little was salvageable but me and my family of six are moving forward as I have said, this is what that entails for me:

Launching a new original story on Wattpad alongside a .

Pursuing other projects on this website (including rewriting Act one of UNM).

Possibly doing requests based off of support.

Launching two other original stories on Wattpad further down the line

When the and new story is up I would delighted by any support given, everything helps, even just knowing that there are people who enjoy my stories. Thank you for your time. I will see you all two weeks from now for the next chapter of UNM.

 **Next Chapter:** and Her Children


	20. And Her Children(ACT 2 CHAPTER 9)

The city was empty, as many nice places are, but Kana was there, which severely reduced the niceness of the place. At least, this is what Kana thought. Still, he did quite enjoy the silence city-Z brought, even if it was a lonely one. He did admit that he wasn't really feeling himself, but in many regards that felt like a good thing. He had been walking along the sidewalks for… Hours? Days? He hadn't been keeping track of time very well. Now that he had thought about it, he decided he would very much like to stop walking, as many tired people often decided.

He looked up to the tops of the skyscrapers, the buildings themselves curving out so far above him that the roofs felt more so like new worlds rather than something a door and an elevator ride away. The breeze must be nice up there, he thought. I would very much like to be up there instead of here, he thought, as many tired people often did.

He did not stop to rest, as many tired people would, he began to climb the windows and scaffolding. The building was very high indeed, and often Kana felt as though he was traveling much farther than he actually was. Occasionally, he would look inside the building through a particular window, it was always empty, as many nice places are, but Kana could see his reflection, which severely ruined the niceness of the place. At least, this is what Kana thought. Still, he managed to land himself within arms reach of the top of the building, he reached forward with all of his might, and the sky began to be peeled away.

The giant cement boulder weathered and crumbled away as Genos blasted it with beams of light from his palms. Tanaka sat next to him on the ground doing her best not to pass out again. Genos was still not fully certain of what he was doing or why he was in City-Z. The woman he had brought, whom he had since learned was named Tanaka (though he still preferred to call her "the woman"), seemed to become sick when he told her about what had happened at the Hero association. She seemed sicker still when she had learned about the man Genos had met in the street that had told him to go to city-Z. Finally, she had once again collapsed, this time keeping consciousness, when she had taken a chance to look and see where in city-Z they were.

"I know this place, I've seen it before." She said to Genos, who had only known her as the the woman who had infiltrated the HA and the woman that had collapsed into his master's arms, according to his master, that is. He couldn't exactly say why, but he felt a bit sour over the whole situation.

"As have I, Me, master, and the Tornado of Terror find ourselves here daily." Genos said back, wondering if perhaps losing her balance was going to become a trend.

"No, you don't understand!" She said, trying to get up but lacking the strength to do so and falling back down. "I've never been to City-Z before!"

"Pictures then, or perhaps you've seen it from afar." He said, starting to wonder how someone could lose their balance so often and still be an assassin. It was like losing something necessary to everyday life, like an arm… Genos stopped thinking about it immediately.

"No, no! It was t-the doors or… The Gate! They Showed this place to me!"

There was a deafening silence as the two looked back and forth between them. Tanaka was desperately reaching out to Genos who was wearing his serious face as usual. Genos turned away from her and began searching for a place to sit.

"Oh my g- why don't you believe me!?" She yelled.

"I recommend you take a moment to review the things you've said and then ask yourself that question again." He said, still looking for a place to sit and wait for his master.

She made a few guttural noises to communicate her frustration. She gestured to the giant cement boulder. "Kana- my brother, is under there, all you have to do is move it and then-"

"No, I am not going to try and remove a giant concrete boulder for something that is more than likely a farce." He said firmly.

Tanaka let out another grunt of frustration before realizing something. She looked Genos, who had recently found a spot to sit, dead in the eyes. "Saitama would."

And then before either of them knew it, there they were, Genos steadily destroying the rock until he saw something: black dress shoes peeking out from a second hole that had more or less been covered by the boulder. Once he had stopped firing to stare in what should have been silence, the distinct echo of a voice Genos had become used to hearing in his head came up to them from the hole. Genos immediately continued to blast away at the giant concrete boulder until an extremely disheveled Kana was fully revealed. Tanaka slid down to him laughing and crying, Kana continued to stare towards the sky with a frustrated and confused look on his face. Genos also walked down the slope to the hole that held Kana, though he only stared at the manager with an equally frustrated and confused expression rather than laughing and crying.

Tanaka fell into the hole, picking her brother up and holding him in her arms, his hand was glued to his chest with dried blood, but he had a pulse. Kana continued to look to the sky for some time as he was cradled, until he snapped out of his delusions, or at least it looked that way. He began to look around him with the face and detachment of someone who had just woken up in the middle of the afternoon. Eventually he focused on Tanaka's crying face.

"Ah, little T-Tanako, why are you crying…? Did something happen at school?" He said, his voice weak and his jaw chattering.

"What?" Tanaka managed through her sniffles. "Kana, I haven't been… Kana where are we now?"

"We're at home, silly. We're in my room, see?" Kana said as though it was obvious.

"Oh, Kana, no, no we're not. Can't you see?" She said moving back and revealing the gray sky behind her.

"I… Can't. All I can see, is my tired little sister in my room." Kana insisted. "Perhaps, you should get some sleep, Tanako. Are you feeling yourself?"

Tanaka swallowed hard and took a shaky breath. "No, no I don't think I am."

"Oh, well, maybe that's a good thing, I just had the most bizarre dream about just that." He said, with a weak smile.

"You'll have to tell me about it… In the morning, okay?"

"Very well." He said, his smile becoming stronger. "In the morning. Good night, Tanako."

"Good night, Kana." As soon as she had said his name he had drifted back to sleep. She picked him up and turned towards Genos, her face determined and deadly serious.

"I've made this mistake of giving up on Kana before. I thought that, perhaps, we could never be a family again. I made a mistake. We need to get him to a hospital, now."

"I have analyzed his wounds, his heart has been injured beyond repair, but his blood is still pumping, and his brain his still active. I do not know how this is possible. Something else is keeping him alive, we should wait until my master gets here."

"Genos, look at him, he can't stay here any longer, he needs help."

"We will get him help when master Saitama manager is a very resilient man."

"We don't have time!"

"Time for what?" A familiarly bored voice said from above them. Tanaka and Genos looked to the top of the pit to see Saitama standing there, his arms crossed. He slid down to meet both of them. "Genos, I thought I told you to take Tanaka back to my apartment so I could ask her some questions."

"I was going to, master, but-" Genos began to say before Saitama spoke up.

"Yeah, that weird guy butt his head in, Tats told me. She'll be catching up soon, by the way." Saitama said, waving off Genos' excuse as he walked around to Tanaka. "Woah! Is that who I think it is?" Saitama said, pointing to Kana. "Genos, we should get him to a hospital."

There was a moment where Genos and Tanaka made eye contact, she still looked determined and serious, but she also looked smug. Genos did not look smug. He looked serious, as usual, but also upset, maybe slightly angry. Saitama did not look smug or upset, but slightly concerned over the fact that his boss looked mostly dead. Kana looked mostly dead, but not quite, he was still breathing very clearly and heavily.

"What even happened?" Saitama said, trying to poke at Kana before Tanaka pulled him out of reach, shielding him with her body. She answered, nearly overcome with shame and embarrassment.

"It's… a long story. A long, long story." She said, and it was the truth, in order to properly tell the story she required time. On the other hand, this answer was not the truth and she only said it to avoid telling the truth.

"Long story short." Said another sly voice from above. They all looked up this time, even Kana stirred in his sleep, to see a young man in a trench coat, wearing a hat that could overshadow his eyes. However, because of the angle,everyone could see his eyes now, with those small, distinct pupils. They could see his orange hair, his freckles, and his murderous smile.

"She killed him." Said the Prince.

 **A/N:** Wow, another delayed chapter, this is getting to be a real problem, isn't it? Well, I'm sorry, my life has done nothing but get progressively more stressful and busy since the fire. I'm not sure when the final chapter of this act will come out, I'm aiming for the 27th and the epilogue of this act/ prologue to the next to come out the day afterwards. I can prioritize working on it, though, if I can get funded over on my . Since I can't post a link here all you have to do is go to , search Marshall Bradbury, and click on "creators", and It'll say my name and that I'm creating written stories. I'm the only Marshall Bradbury there right now and I don't have an avatar so you can't miss it.

It feels a little dirty to ask for money like this but I'm in a real bind finance wise right now. If I get enough support over there then Act three can have longer chapters, more chapters, and even come out weekly.

If you donate three dollars or more you will see the final chapter five days before non-patrons. Five dollars will get you a vote on what I work on during the hiatus following the final chapter of this act (and just a vote in general whenever I launch an important pole). I have a slew of things I want to work on, including rewriting the first act of this story, actually writing that Kana backstory I talked about, other stories for different fandoms, and working on and publishing my original story: the Death of Home. Making the Hiatus shorter will also be an option. Those are the only prizes I can give right now, but anything helps, I really mean that. The final chapter is going to be quite large, I've already started working on it. Alot is going to happen in it, so brace yourselves for that.

Finally I want to thank everyone who has sent a comforting message to me, it keeps me going, you guys were the reason I kept this series going. Thank you, sincerely.

 **Final chapter of act 2: Locks the Gate**


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